Scopes Trial Essay
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Nov 24, 2024
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The Scopes Trial Essay
Dayton, Tennessee only held 6,000 residents however it became a landmark after The Scopes Trials
were held there. At the time of the trials, people flooded in from all around the country to witness
what would be one of the most controversial court cases of the century.
On April 24, 1925, John Thomas Scopes was charged with the teaching of evolution
, which went
against the Butler Act. The Butler Act made it illegal to teach any theory denying the divine creation
of man in all of Tennessee's public schools. Up until then, it was widely accepted that the origin of
man hadn't derived from wild animals. Locals of Dayton pursued publicity from the court case over
the actual teaching of evolution. George Rappleyea, the local coal mine manager, attempted to
persuade other town leaders that a controversial court case would attract much media attention and
"put Dayton on the map." School superintendent Walter White was a town leader present and
decided 24 year old general science teacher John Scopes was a suitable candidate for the guilty
party. Rappleyea said that "nobody could teach biology without teaching evolution." Once Scopes
was convinced he had indeed broken the law by teaching evolution, he agreed to take place in the
trial. The main prosecuting attorney was William Jennings Bryan, a three time presidential candidate
and former Secretary of State.
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After John Scopes was found guilty, he stated "to oppose this law in any way I can. Any other action
would be in violation of my ideal of academic freedom – that is, to teach the truth as guaranteed in
our constitution, of personal and religious freedom." The Butler Act remained in place until May 17,
1967, when teacher Gary L. Scott sought permanent injunction against the act. The Scopes Trial was
followed by many similar court cases. After Epperson vs. Arkansas in 1968 the Supreme Court ruled
banning the teaching of evolution
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Scopes Trial
The Act scopes trial had different names like the monkey scopes trial . it began on June 10 . it was
held in Dayton Tennessee it was about people not evolving from monkeys. It was broadcasted on the
radios. Scopes was found guilty and was charged a fine of $100, but the verdict was thrown out of
technicality.
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The Scopes Trial
Although the 1920s was a lavish decade, there were other things going on while people were living
in luxury; there was truth behind the glitter. The Eighteenth Amendment seemed like it was a good
idea, but in reality, it brought people to a certain desperation to get at least a sip of an alcoholic
beverage. The Ku Klux Klan marched to Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington on August 8, 1925
which succeeded in attracting national attention (1920's KKK). John Scopes, a Tennessee
schoolteacher, is arrested for teaching evolution, in violation of new state law banning the teaching
of Darwin. The worst of times in the 1920s encapsulated the whole decade.
At midnight, January 16, 1920, the United States went dry; breweries, distilleries, and saloons were
forced to close their doors (Prohibition). As said before, this amendment brought people to a great
desperation to get a sip of an alcoholic beverage. Speakeasies, or hidden saloons and nightclubs
became popular as well as bootleggers (smugglers who brought alcohol into the U.S.) so people
could continue drinking their preferred intoxicated drink (Prohibition). The following poem portrays
the thirst for alcohol in American after the Eighteenth Amendment was ratified in the 1920:
Old Ben.
(From
...show more content...
In early 1925, Tennessee passed a law that made it illegal to teach evolution. In the summer of 1925,
a young schoolteacher named John Scopes stood trial in Dayton, Tennessee, for violating the state
law against the teaching of evolution (The Scopes Trial).The jury found Scopes guilty of violating
the law and fined him $100 (Scopes Trial). The Scopes trial resulted in two enduring conclusions:
that legislatures should not restrain the freedom of scientific inquiry, and that society should respect
academic freedom (The Scopes
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Scopes Trial Case Study
1. An ethical dilemma occurs when two moral imperatives contradict one another. In the case of the
Scopes Trial, for example, while the Bible stated that God created humans on the sixth day of
creation, Darwinian evolution argued that humankind evolved through natural selection over a
period of millions of years. This dilemma created a heated debate that impacted the entire country.
Describe the circumstances and developments that allowed the dilemma to become an issue in
Tennessee in 1925. (See especially pp. 20–27) [PR1] A legislation act was raised and passed as a bill
within Tennessee in 1925 by the antievolution individual known as John Washington Butler who
emphasized on the eradication of initiating teachings that concern evolution as a learning activity
within the learning institution. However, many individuals were against Butler's bill; therefore,
Tennessee Senate was responsible for passing the bill that was voted by the majority. Various issues
were raised by the members of the Senate to vote Butler's bill down (21). This was an indication
that
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He obtained the information from the foreman which rendered Mr. Scoop guilty. I do not think
Judge Raulston's final decision was just. He should have considered the importance of the academic
freedom before he presented his final decision. Also, the ethical dilemma was not solved since only
one person was prosecuted as a result of presenting information to many people who have already
obtained the knowledge concerning the information presented. I believe that academic freedom is
important to all people; therefore, the need of emphasizing on education serves as the essential
factor within the society. People need to understand the importance of academic freedom for them to
recognize what is hidden from them and what is needed to be
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Scopes Trial Analysis
The Scopes Trial is part of a series most commonly known as the trial of the century. In this series
there are many trials which are looked as revolutionary and important part of history. But even
though some trials may be big, they don't make it into the trial of the century just because their
concept and ideology isn't a very controversial and doesn't make you choose one side or the other.
The Scopes Trial, also known as the "Monkey Trial," didn't have much do with the case itself but
what it actually standed for. The Scopes Trial set in motion a debate which still hasn't been properly
dealt with and clashes two polar ideas to compete against each other in order for the future
generation's knowledge and to decide which is the true way of
...show more content...
In schools today things have been flipped around, for example evolution is okay to teach since it is a
scientific fact and can be backed up with proofs and claims, however a teacher cannot teach about
creationism because it is a religious belief and under the law schools have to be religiously neutral.
But most of the time public schools ignore the whole thing, but in Colleges every biology class has
evolution in their curriculum and the professors have to teach it. But even if that's the case, now–a–
days I think that the ideology of creationism is being taught less by the churches themselves, though
I am not a Christian and maybe because of that, I have been in several preaching sessions for FCA in
middle school and club preaching in high school and I have also attended church few times; and I
have never heard of creationism until this trial and some of these preachings talked about Genesis
but backed away from many aspects of it, so I believe that creationism is being taught less as, in my
opinion, as humankind is focusing more on logic than faith. But even so the debate over the
existence of evolution is being argued upon lots of times between: peers, coworkers, preachers,
atheist, agnostics, and sometimes even parents; and I believe that it is common sense to doubt these
sorts of things because it is eventually affects how one may live or how it may affects one's after life
and it's human nature to have different views. But it is okay when one takes away one side of the
argument and only is taught one side, and I believe that it should be up to the person which side to
be on, but using evolution to justify one's selfishness is also wrong and is just an excuse which is
used by the rich to not help the
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