John T. Scopes Essay

Words: 601
Pages: 3

In 1925, the Tennessee legislature passed the Butler Act which forbade anyone “to teach any theory that denies the story of divine creation as taught by the Bible and to teach that man was descended from a lower order of animals,” as written by the staff of history.com. Shortly after, John T. Scopes, a high school biology teacher, was charged with teaching the theory of evolution within his class. In the trial, State v. John Scopes, the jury could convict the accused with a fine between $100-500, but they ruled not guilty. Although, the theory of the creation of man is a part of the United States’ history and science. History is a necessary subject taught in all schools which gives us knowledge on the foundation of our nation; presenting historical …show more content…
Together they “would prove that Scopes had broken the law of the state of Tennessee by teaching evolution in the classroom” (Olson 33).
On the other hand, famed trial lawyer, Clarence Darrow, led the defense for John T. Scopes. While not the first choice for representative because of his “zealous agnosticism,” Darrow personified the urban society in which he lived in; exactly what the defense was looking for. One of Darrow’s opening statements was that the anti-evolution law made the Bible “the yardstick to measure every man’s intellect, to measure every man’s intelligence, to measure every man’s learning” (Famous-Trials, 2000). He claimed society needed an open mind in order to go beyond a “book” that had no real scientific proof.
Even though that was not the true intention Rappelyea and a handful of others had in mind. George Rappelyea, an engineer, was one of the several men who convinced Scopes to test the newly made law in the courts. He was far “more interested in the excitement the case would create. If the case was tried in Dayton, it would bring people and business to the town” (Olson 11). Rappelyea and his band of greedy men weren’t focused on the moral or scientific aspects of the case, but on how much money was rolling