What happened at the Scopes Monkey Trial?
This court case went bananas.
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Transcript
State of Tennessee v. Scopes—also known as the Scopes Monkey Trial—was one of the most famous legal battles in the 20th century. So how did a small county court case get so—well, bananas?
In 1925, more than 65 years after Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution, the Tennessee State Legislature banned it from public classrooms. The Butler Act made it a misdemeanor to teach a curriculum that contradicted the biblical story of creation.
The law drew immediate objections, especially from First Amendment advocates. The ACLU put out a newspaper ad in search of teachers willing to challenge the law in court.
Local leaders in Dayton, Tennessee, thought the trial might bring publicity to their small town. John Scopes, a 24-year-old science teacher there, became the plaintiff.
Scopes was indicted on May 25, 1925. For lead prosecutor, the state chose William Jennings Bryan, a former congressman, three-time presidential candidate, and fundamentalist spokesperson. The ACLU recruited famed criminal defense attorney Clarence Darrow.
The trial began on July 10, 1925. Outside, vendors sold refreshments, toy monkeys, and Bibles—and some even brought live chimpanzees.
Initially, Darrow moved to dismiss the case on the grounds that the Butler Act was unconstitutional. Judge John Raulston, who began court proceedings with a prayer, overruled the motion.
After the defense brought a zoologist to testify on evolution, the judge barred witness statements from scientific experts, claiming their knowledge wasn’t relevant to the case.
The day before the trial ended Darrow called Bryan to the stand as an expert Bible witness.
The cross-examination was moved outside due to the heat. Darrow interrogated Bryan’s literal interpretation of the creation story, Adam and Eve, and Jonah and the whale. Bryan began to contradict himself in front of the laughing crowd.
In his closing speech, Darrow asked for a guilty verdict—both for the chance to appeal and to prevent Bryan from delivering his own closing argument. After nine minutes of deliberation, the jury found Scopes guilty and issued a fine of $100.*
Although Bryan won the case, his reputation was irreparably damaged. Six days after the trial, he died of a stroke.
The Tennessee Supreme Court did eventually overrule the case on a technicality. But it upheld the Butler Act, and the case never reached the Supreme Court. Although the law wasn’t enforced again, teaching evolution in schools was technically illegal in Tennessee until the 1960s.
Laws that challenged teaching evolution in the classroom were brought to court as late as the early 2000s. The Scopes Trial started in a small town, but its impact on the battle between science and religion is felt a century later.
In 1925, more than 65 years after Charles Darwin proposed the theory of evolution, the Tennessee State Legislature banned it from public classrooms. The Butler Act made it a misdemeanor to teach a curriculum that contradicted the biblical story of creation.
The law drew immediate objections, especially from First Amendment advocates. The ACLU put out a newspaper ad in search of teachers willing to challenge the law in court.
Local leaders in Dayton, Tennessee, thought the trial might bring publicity to their small town. John Scopes, a 24-year-old science teacher there, became the plaintiff.
Scopes was indicted on May 25, 1925. For lead prosecutor, the state chose William Jennings Bryan, a former congressman, three-time presidential candidate, and fundamentalist spokesperson. The ACLU recruited famed criminal defense attorney Clarence Darrow.
The trial began on July 10, 1925. Outside, vendors sold refreshments, toy monkeys, and Bibles—and some even brought live chimpanzees.
Initially, Darrow moved to dismiss the case on the grounds that the Butler Act was unconstitutional. Judge John Raulston, who began court proceedings with a prayer, overruled the motion.
After the defense brought a zoologist to testify on evolution, the judge barred witness statements from scientific experts, claiming their knowledge wasn’t relevant to the case.
The day before the trial ended Darrow called Bryan to the stand as an expert Bible witness.
The cross-examination was moved outside due to the heat. Darrow interrogated Bryan’s literal interpretation of the creation story, Adam and Eve, and Jonah and the whale. Bryan began to contradict himself in front of the laughing crowd.
In his closing speech, Darrow asked for a guilty verdict—both for the chance to appeal and to prevent Bryan from delivering his own closing argument. After nine minutes of deliberation, the jury found Scopes guilty and issued a fine of $100.*
Although Bryan won the case, his reputation was irreparably damaged. Six days after the trial, he died of a stroke.
The Tennessee Supreme Court did eventually overrule the case on a technicality. But it upheld the Butler Act, and the case never reached the Supreme Court. Although the law wasn’t enforced again, teaching evolution in schools was technically illegal in Tennessee until the 1960s.
Laws that challenged teaching evolution in the classroom were brought to court as late as the early 2000s. The Scopes Trial started in a small town, but its impact on the battle between science and religion is felt a century later.