Tennessee vs. Scopes Trial Fact or Fiction
Tennessee vs. Scopes Trial: Fact or Fiction
In 1925 the court case of Tennessee v. Scopes received national attention, and gained legendary status. This case was the direct result over the nationwide debate on weather Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, or the bible’s account of Genesis, should be taught in public schools, and also effected what was being taught in the public school system. In the years leading up to 1960, and the release of the Hollywood film Inherit the Wind the facts of the scopes trial became very distorted from the real life event.
Before comparing the differences in the Scopes trial and the movie Inherit the Wind, it’s important to examine what factors helped lead up to the 1925 court case.
The first factor that should be examined is Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. This theory was at the heart of the debate in the Scopes trial. According to class notes lectures Charles Darwin’s theory of Evolution stated that over long periods of time animals with the best characteristics survived, and randomly changed. With this idea of evolution Charles Darwin published a book called the Origins of Species in 1859. In Charles Darwin’s book he presented a revolutionary idea that man could have evolved from ape. As stated in the book Summer of the Gods written by Edward Larson Darwin’s ideas “posed a conflict with accounts of the book of Genesis, which declared that God formed the heavens, the earth, and all kinds of living things in six days, culminating in the creation of Adam and Eve as the forbearers of all human beings”(p15). These opposing concepts ultimately lead to the debate that was a major focal point in the trial of Tennessee v Scopes.
The second factor leading to the Scopes trial was a series of anti-evolution bills passed around the United States. Passed in Tennessee, as well as Florida this legislation was known as the Butler anti-evolution Act. This bill forbid the teaching of Evolution as fact in public classrooms, and was a punishable offense under the penal law. Before this law was enacted text like Hunter’s Civic Biology book were state approved material and taught in High School biology classes nation wide. The only problem with this newly created law is would it be enforceable? The only answer to this question would be to have a trial, and John Scopes was the man who was chosen to...