Dan+M+Week+6

= THE SCOPES TRIAL =

Any trial that is controversial and brings with it big names, will also bring with it beg press. Such is the Scopes or “Monkey” Trial. In 1925, there was a fierce struggle between modernists and traditionalists within American society; this was “especially strong in the American South”. While there were many influential public figures at the Scopes Trial, none are more remembered than William Jennings Bryan, and Clarence Darrow. William Jennings Bryan, a three time presidential candidate and populist, led the prosecution against John Scopes in Dayton, Tennessee. Defending him was Clarence Darrow, a zealous agnostic and member of the ACLU. Darrow’s goal for the defense of Scopes was not to win acquittal, but merely to obtain the ruling that not being able to teach evolution in schools was unconstitutional. From opening statements such as “Scopes isn’t on trial; civilization is on trial” by Darrow, and things such as “if evolution wins, Christianity goes” by Bryan, the case was shaping up to be one of the most publicized and important (socially) cases in the history of the country. “The press…loved it.”

The trial proceeded and the prosecution proceeded to bring up students of Scopes’, while the defense called upon experts such as “Dr. Maynard Metcalf, a zoologist from the Johns Hopkins University”. Dudley Malone gave the speech of a lifetime, but the next day Judge Raulston ruled that the testimony was inadmissible. Darrow was greatly angered and began insulting Raulston and the court. He was found in contempt, but it was later dropped when he publicly apologized. After a week of trial, the defense called upon William Jennings Bryan as an expert on the Bible. Darrow proceeded to question him on the stories of the Bible such as, “a whale swallowing Jonah, Joshua making the sun stand still, Noah and the great flood, the temptation of Adam in the garden of Eden, and the creation according to Genesis”. “After initially contending that "everything in the Bible should be accepted as it is given there," Bryan finally conceded that the words of the Bible should not always be taken literally.” Bryan also said that he felt that the days in Genesis were more like periods, and not 24-hour days. Bryan had suffered a defeat due to his testimony. As the trial was ending, Darrow asked that the jury “return the verdict of guilty” so that it was able to be appealed to the Supreme Court. His wish was granted and the Supreme Court ended up turning over the decision because of a technicality.

While it would seem that there was no victor, I believe that evolution came out on top. Many of the states that had laws against teaching evolution dropped them (except for Mississippi and Arkansas), and evolution gained the public’s eye. Evolution is a theory. People can choose to believe it or deny it, and that is entirely their own personal decision. But that theory will be able to touch more people, and gain more “believers” as it gets more publicity, and more recognition. The people of Dayton, Tennessee were merely trying to put themselves on the map, not advocate evolution. In fact, they were trying to do just the opposite. But in the act of putting it to trial, they gained publicity and therefore gave strength to the validity and popularity of the theory.