- Time Period
- 7/9/1925 - 7/21/1925
- Description
- In the 1920s, a Tennessee law forbade the teaching of evolution in the classroom, but when a new biology teacher named John T. Scopes challenged the law, controversy ensued. The Scopes trial, also known as the "Monkey Trial," garnered media attention as the American Civil Liberties Union supplied Scopes with eminent trial lawyer and religious skeptic Clarence Darrow. William Jennings Bryan was a famous Democratic politician and evangelical Christian who represented the prosecution in the trial. The trial reflected two strong worldviews: those who believed that evolution contradicted the biblical account of creation (Bryan) and those who believed that creationism lacked scientific veracity (Darrow). Scopes lost the trial but the verdict was overturned later in a higher court due to a legal technicality. While many anti-evolution laws were overturned in the 1960s, "creation science" is still prominent in some states, highlighting continual resistance to Darwin’s theory.
- Interactive Timeline(s)
- Prominent Religious Events and People in American History
- Browse Related Timeline Entries
- Prominent Religious Events and People in American History
- Religious Groups
- Timeline Entries for the same religious group Independent Fundamentalist Family Independent Fundamentalist Family: Other ARDA Links
- Biographies
- Riley, William Bell
- Movements
- Christian Fundamentalism
- Photographs
-
John Scopes portrait- Library of Congress, LC-DIG-ggbain-38216 -
William Jennings Bryan portrait- Library of Congress, LC-USZ6-831 -
Clarence Darrow portrait- Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-11819 - Book/Journal Source(s)
- Queen, Edward, Stephen Prothero and Gardiner Shattuck, 1996. The Encyclopedia of American Religious History. New York: Facts on File.
- Web Page Contributor
- Benjamin T. Gurrentz Affliated with: Pennsylvania State University, Ph.D. in Sociology
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