Scopes trial

{{Sources needed}}[[File:John t scopes.jpg|right|thumb|165px|Schoolteacher John T. Scopes in 1925, about a month before the start of the trial.]]{{evolution}}

The '''Scopes trial''' (''State v. Scopes, Scopes v. State, 152 Tenn. 424, 278 S.W. 57 (Tenn. 1926)''), also commonly known as the '''Scopes [[Monkey]] Trial''', was a famous test of the [[Origins debate|evolution vs creation debate]].  Though it might seem odd to us today, the creationism in question was of the [[Old Earth creationism|Old Earth]], not the [[Young Earth creationism|Young Earth]], variety.

==Background==
On 25 March, 1925, [[Tennessee]]'s {{wpl|Butler Act}} declared that it was unlawful in any state-funded educational establishment in Tennessee, "to teach any theory that denies the story of the [[Divine]] Creation of man as taught in the [[Bible]], and to teach instead that man has [[Evolution|descended from a lower order of animals]]." Notably, the law did not ban the teaching of evolution of non-humans in schools.<ref name=incorvaia>[https://www.sciencenews.org/article/scopes-trial-anniversary-science-attack 100 years after the Scopes trial, science is still under attack. Teaching human evolution went on trial a century ago. What’s the case’s legacy?] by Darren Incorvaia, interview with Randy Moore (June 16, 2025 at 1:00 pm) ''Science News''.</ref> The Act was opposed by the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] (ACLU), who funded a test case, that of high school [[biology]] teacher {{wpl|John T. Scopes||.}}

In fact, the trial was staged as a publicity stunt to "test" the new "anti-evolution" law so recently passed in Tennessee (staged precisely because nobody had challenged it, as expected). After passage of this legislation, the business owners of economically depressed Dayton, TN responded to a newspaper advertisement placed by the ACLU and seeking someone to challenge the law in court. The businesspeople had no interest in the trial per se, only the publicity of the trial and the anticipated economic boost to the community.<ref name=incorvaia/> At the time, nobody had complained about Scopes or his teaching (though this is the widely reported reason for the trial). Instead, Scopes was recruited to be the token defendant. Scopes never spent time in jail and was re-employed as a teacher after the trial. William Jennings Bryan even offered to pay his fine.<ref>[https://apnews.com/general-news-cd327fa2ef6a49abbcf73c001e866ad2 In 'Scopes monkey trial' home, an evolution debate rages on] by Travis Loller (Updated 7:39 AM PDT, August 6, 2016) ''Associated Press''.</ref>

==The trial==
The case attracted national and international publicity, with two of the [[United States]]' greatest [[lawyer]]s of the time, [[Clarence Darrow]] (defending) and [[William Jennings Bryan]] (prosecuting), facing each other. Bryan revealed a poor knowledge of [[science]], believing that there are 35,000 [[mammal]] [[species]] (as of 2011, there are 5,494 known mammal species), and took offence that our monkey ancestors "weren't even American monkeys."<ref group=note>On the basis of [[common descent]], [[Human]]s are [[ape]]s (superfamily Hominoidea), and apes are monkeys (simians, infraorder Simiiformes); both apes and monkeys are [[primate]]s. Further, it is believed that humans arose in [[Africa]], with most American humans being recent migrants; there may have been [[racism]] behind his statement.</ref> Bryan was also called upon to provide expert evidence on the [[Bible]] (as a self-declared believer). He accused Darrow of plotting "to cast ridicule on everybody who believes in the Bible," to which Darrow responded "'''We have the purpose of preventing [[bigot]]s and ignoramuses from controlling the education of the United States'''." Bryan

===The verdict===
The jury deliberated for nine minutes and found Scopes guilty. He was fined 100 [[dollar]]s (about $1,300 in 2011 dollars) by the judge. By law, Tennessee judges at the time could not levy fines higher than $50, so the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the verdict on a technicality, without addressing the constitutionality of the law. The verdict could not be appealed on Constitutional grounds since it had been reversed on a technicality. This gave other states the ability to pass similar laws ([[Arkansas]] and [[Mississippi]], specifically), and the word evolution was effectively removed from all public school biology textbooks because of this. The anti-evolution laws stayed intact until 1968 when the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] legalized the teaching of evolution nationwide on [[First Amendment]] grounds in {{wpl|Epperson v. Arkansas|''Epperson v. Arkansas''|.}}<ref name=incorvaia/>

==Aftermath==
The story of the trial became a part of the ongoing [[debate]] about the teaching of evolution and [[Creationism|creation]] in [[science]] classes. It was also written up as a play, ''Inherit the Wind'', which was later made into a film starring Spencer Tracy and Gene Kelly. The Butler Act was finally repealed in 1967.

===Reinterpretation in ''Inherit the Wind''===
[[File:Inherit the Wind (1960) - Trailer.webm|right|thumb|400px|Trailer for ''Inherit the Wind''. Enjoy!]]
While the play and later film ''Inherit the Wind'' is remembered as a classic of American drama, it significantly reinterpreted some of the events of the trial. This is partially due to the fact that it was meant to be an allegory about [[Joe McCarthy|McCarthyism]], but after the fall of the [[Soviet Union]] and revival of the evolution vs. creation debate, its literal narrative came to be seen as more relevant.

In the play/film, Scopes is depicted as a persecuted man. In fact, Scopes was sitting in the audience by the end of the trial. Scopes had not actually violated the law, but ''volunteered'' to stand as a test case for the [[ACLU]], who wanted to challenge the Butler Act. Some townspeople demonized Scopes, but many believed that Bryan had an open-and-shut case against him and that creationism would certainly win out. The politicians of Dayton actually welcomed Darrow and hyped the case because it was a boon for the non-existent tourism industry of the town, which had recently fallen on hard times with the closure of a local [[coal]] mine that had employed most of the town's workers. They had urged Scopes to stand trial in hopes of "putting their town on the map" and drawing in tourist dollars (come for the show trial, stay for the coal mine tours).

Finally, the film presents the judgment as a victory for Darrow and Scopes; however, the two were secretly hoping to get a guilty verdict so they could appeal the case and ultimately overturn the Butler Act. Darrow never even attempted to prove Scopes was "not guilty" of having taught evolution (although this was true). Instead, [[expert witness]]es were called to testify that it was true, which the judge ruled irrelevant since the only matter at hand was whether he had broken the law or not. The defense had stipulated falsely to him doing so, and in fact asked the jury to find Scopes guilty, as this was the only way to accomplish their end of getting this law ruled unconstitutional.

===Further reinterpretation by evangelical Christians===
In 2010, the film ''Alleged'' was released, putting an [[evangelical Christian]] spin on the events, featuring actors Brian Dennehy as Darrow, Fred Dalton Thomas as Bryan and Colm Meaney as [[H. L. Mencken]].<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1516009/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_in_0_q_Alleged Alleged] ''IMDb''.</ref> As might be expected, it assailed many [[strawmen]] and contained numerous [[Pseudohistory|historical inaccuracies]]. Additionally, fictional side plots were added: first of a promising young local reporter, Charles Anderson, torn between on the one hand impressing Mencken and thus winning a better job in the newspaper business and twisting facts to suit Mencken's completely [[bias]]ed view of the trial, and on the other of his fiancée Rose attempting to stop her [[Miscegenation|mixed-race]] younger sister from forced sterilization.

The film does correctly show the trial as staged, and Bryan less ignorant than ''Inherit the Wind'' portrays him as. However, it adds false characterizations. Darrow is portrayed concluding when consulting with his scientific expert witnesses that the evidence for evolution is thin to nonexistent. Mencken is shown to be a completely biased hack who supports [[eugenics]] (rather than having publicly opposed it, as the real man did). It is falsely claimed that Darrow had defended Leopold and Loeb against murder charges on [[Social Darwinism|Social Darwinist]] grounds. Rather, he had eloquently begged for mercy on the grounds that the [[death sentence]] they faced was barbaric (and succeeded in getting them life in prison instead). For good measure, it has Bryan reiterate the false (and irrelevant to evolution's veracity) claim that [[Charles Darwin]] disparaged women.

Much is made of the school text in question promoting eugenics (which is true) but the real Bryan never mentioned it, as it wasn't relevant to the trial, only evolution generally as supposedly leading to moral decay. In any case, focusing upon [[scientific racism]] (while deplorable) is a bit [[hypocritical]] when faced with the [[Jim Crow]] racism of [[the South]] at the time, which was justified by its defenders on Christian religious grounds. [[Ironically]], the only eugenic sentiments expressed around the trial came from Mary Bryan, Bryan's wife, noting her dislike of the local "mountain folk" and what she felt were their bad habits of [[inbreeding]]. Bryan himself was no pillar of anti-racism, believing in [[white supremacy]] and [[segregation]], as his Southern white supporters did. Contrarily, Mencken (though expressing some racist sentiments) denounced [[lynching]]s when this was almost unheard of, even in the face of scorn and death threats. Darrow was well-known as a defender of [[African Americans]], winning a very rare acquittal of a black man who had shot a white onlooker accidentally while trying to drive away a mob of whites who were throwing stones at his house (this occurred the same year as Scopes' case) and aided the [[NAACP]].

The side plots wrap up predictably, with Charles Anderson rejecting Mencken as Rose saves her sister, though here they actually show Darrow positively, with him getting an injunction against forced sterilization: this is plausible as Darrow, like Mencken, opposed eugenics. However, Tennessee lacked any eugenics law (though one was proposed later, but defeated) and it had no known compulsory sterilizations, or attempts to perform them. Overall, it is the [[propaganda]] piece expected, correcting a few historical inaccuracies of ''Inherit the Wind'' while adding many more of its own to compensate. For bonus points, the DVD contains a "study guide" which is intended to be used by church groups.

==A second trial?==
In 2012, the Tennessee legislature enacted another anti-evolution act, nicknamed the [[Tennessee monkey bill‎|Tennessee "monkey bill,"]] which is widely believed to be destined to end in a similarly litigious event. Time will tell whether it will, and hopefully with great [[lulz]].

==See also==
*[[Edwards v. Aguillard]]
*[[H.L. Mencken]]
*[[How come there are still monkeys?]]
*[[Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District]]

==External links==
* Watch PBS's [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOgI0b-tEAg&feature=related Scopes Monkey Trial documentary] or read [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/monkeytrial/filmmore/pt.html the transcript.] (Features [[Eugenie Scott]])

==Further reading==
* ''Center of the Storm: Memoirs of John T. Scopes'' by John T. Scopes & James Presley (1967) Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
* ''John Thomas Scopes: A Biography'' by Randy Moore (2023) Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 9781440880544.

==Notes==
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==References==
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[[Category:Evolution]]
[[Category:Court cases]]
[[Category:United States history]]

Categories: Evolution, Court cases, United States history