Transcript Scopes “Monkey” Trial Clash over Evolution

Scopes “Monkey” Trial
Clash over Evolution
Power point created by Robert Martinez
Primary Content Material: History Alive!
Photographs & Illustrations as Cited.
http://www.latw.org/images/photoScopes.jpg
During the 1920s, in response to the
Lost Generations “wild” behavior, such
as provocative dancing (Charleston),
“wild” music (Jazz), “wild” women
(flappers), Conservative America looked
to fundamentalism of the Bible.
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Louis Armstrong
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/78128643@N00/200801254/in/set-72157594219612023/
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The defenders of traditional religion
looked to the Bible for support in the
struggle against this new wild
atmosphere of the Twenties.
http://www.andrews.edu/SEM/BSAS/bible4.gif
Fundamentalism is the idea that
religious texts and beliefs should be
taken literally and treated as the
authority on appropriate behavior.
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Prohibition emerges as one example of
America’s fundamentalist pursuit to
correct society.
Prohibition, by the 18th Amendment,
makes the drinking, possession, or
distribution of alcoholic beverages
illegal.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/linhphan/85907113/
http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/6/6f/Prohibition.jpg
In 1925, the Tennessee Legislature
passed a law making it illegal for a
public schools “to teach any theory that
denies the story of Divine Creation of
man as taught in the Bible.”
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http://www.pressebox.de/attachment/37019/evolution.jpg
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In an effort to “show how foolish the
law was,” a young science teacher, John
Scopes, teaches a lesson on Evolution.
The stage was set for a dramatic
showdown between modernists and
traditionalists over the place of science
and religion in public schools.
http://www.antievolution.org/topics/law/scopes/scopes03s.jpg
John Scopes
tp://www.flickr.com/photos/smithsonian/2898289055/
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Modernists looked to science, not the
Bible, to explain how the physical world
worked.
Scientists accepted as true only facts
and theories that could be tested and
supported with evidence.
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/images/gravity-newton.jpg
Theory of
Evolution
 British naturalist Charles Darwin
theorized that all plants and animals,
including humans, had evolved from
simpler forms of life.
http://shots.oxo.li/hot/OXO-World/Charles_Darwin.jpg
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Darwin believed that evolution of one
species from another took place over
thousands or millions of years.
It worked through a process he called
“natural selection” or “survival of the
fittest.”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/photonquantique/1858685882/
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During natural selection, species that
make favorable adaptations to their
environment are more likely to survive
than those that do not.
In such a way, Darwin argued, human
beings had evolved from apes.
Characterization of
Charles Darwin as
an ape.
http://www.directopedia.org/onTEAM/wiki/img/8/180px-Darwin_ape.jpg
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Modernists embraced the concepts of
evolution and natural selection.
Rather than choosing between science
and religion, they believed that both
could coexist.
By the 1920s, the theory of evolution was
regularly taught in schools.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/cpurrin1/159230245/
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Fundamentalists believed the Bible was
the literal word of God.
They rejected the theory of evolution
because it conflicted with creationism,
the belief that God created the universe
as described in the Bible.
http://www.christcenteredmall.com/stores/art/hallmark/previews/the_word_of_god.jpg
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During the 1920s, fundamentalists
campaigned to ban the teaching of
evolution in public schools.
They found their voice in William
Jennings Bryan.
http://www.swordofthelord.com/biographies/BryanWilliamJennings.jpg
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William Jennings Bryan had played a
major role in American politics for 30
years. He had run for president
(Democrat & Populist) 3 times and
served in President Wilson’s cabinet.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/monkeytrial/peopleevents/images/p_bryan.jpg
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Tennessee became the first state to ban
the teaching of evolution in public
schools.
Scopes believed that he cannot teach
biology without teaching evolution.
Scopes is arrested for teaching the
theory of evolution.
http://alliance.ed.uiuc.edu/cdrom/hononegah/Scopes_Folder/scopespic.gif
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The Scopes trial began on July 10,
1925, bringing far more attention than
both sides had expected.
Some 200 national reporters arrived in
Dayton, Tennessee.
Tourists and vendors (selling toy
monkeys) descend on Dayton’s “circus”
atmosphere.
National Reporters follow
the story closely. The nation
is engrossed by the story.
http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2005/jul/scopes/bryanspeaks200.jpg
http://www.antievolution.org/topics/law/scopes
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Bryan vs. Darrow
William Jennings Bryan agrees to
represent the State of Tennessee with
its prosecution of John Scopes.
High-powered lawyer Clarence Darrow
offers to defend Scopes free of charge.
Darrow &
Bryan taking
a break during
the trial.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99805939@N00/4614952/
http://www.americanheritage.com/events/articles/web/20060710-john-scopes-creationism-evolution-darwin-intelligent-design-william-jennings-bryan-monkey-trial.shtml
Clarence Darrow
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Darrow had supported Bryan for
president (they were friends), but he
disagreed with him about religion.
Darrow had enjoyed a reputation of
defending American labor and WWI War
protestors.
http://www.houseofwaterdancer.com/images/law/darrow-clarence.JPG
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In their opening statements, the
opposing lawyers recognized that what
was on trial was the Bible and the
Theory of Evolution, not the law.
http://img.nytstore.com/IMAGES/NSAP235_LARGE.JPG
http://www.antievolution.org/topics/law/scopes
“If evolution wins, Christianity goes,”
- warned William Jennings Bryan
“Scopes isn’t on trial:
civilization is on trial”
- argued Clarence Darrow
http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2005/jul/scopes/bryanspeaks200.jpg
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After listening to only one of Darrow’s
defensive experts, the judge refuses to
let his remaining experts testify.
http://www.americanheritage.com/assets/images/articles/web/20060710.jpg
http://www.antievolution.org/topics/law/scopes
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For a moment, it looked like Darrow had
no defense. Then he surprised everyone
by calling Bryan to the stand as an
expert on the Bible.
http://www.kennislink.nl/upload/86627_962_1028892763232-William-Jennings-Bryan2.jpg
“Do you claim that everything in
the Bible should be literally
interpreted?”
– Darrow asked Bryan
http://thesituationist.files.wordpress.com/2007/03/clarence-darrow-at-scopes-trial.jpg
“I believe everything in the Bible
should be accepted as it is given
there.”
- William Jennings Bryan
http://www.npr.org/programs/atc/features/2005/jul/scopes/bryanspeaks200.jpg
However, when asked if Earth had been created
in six days, Bryan answered,
“I do not think it means necessarily a
twenty-four-hour day,” creation, he
added, “might have continued for
millions of years.”
http://ap.grolier.com/images/cache/075/copg000720t.jpg
Darrow had tricked Bryan, into
admitting that he himself did not
always interpret each and every word in
the Bible as the literal truth.
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http://www.flickr.com/photos/kimberlyb/1339404425/
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When the trial ended, it took the jury
fewer than 10 minutes to find Scopes
guilty.
The judge fined John Scopes only $100
for breaking the Tennessee law.
http://www.realestateparrsboro.com/Nov29Scopes.jpg
Victory in Defeat
Although, John Scopes had been found
guilty by the judge, it was believed to be
a huge victory for science.
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Scopes “Monkey” Trial Courtroom
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51167738@N00/370591408/
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A year later, the Tennessee Supreme
Court overturned the conviction
because the judge, not the jury, had
imposed the fine.
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The Scopes trial did not end the debate
over teaching evolution in public schools.
http://www.msu.edu/~zimme106/scopemonkey.jpg
Inherit the Wind
Suggested Reading and Movie
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