-
- Official case name: The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes
- Also known as "The Monkey Trial"
- Date begun: July 10, 1925
- Date decided: July 21, 1925
- Prosecutor: William Jennings Bryan
- Defense Attorney: Clarence Darrow
- Scopes ordered to pay a fine of $100
- First trial to be broadcast on radio
- The Tennessee Supreme Court overturned the verdict in 1927
-
-
During the Scopes Trial, high school biology teacher John Scopes was convicted for teaching the theory of evolution in violation of the Butler Act. The trial drew thousands of spectators and was moved from inside the courthouse to the front lawn in fear that the weight of the crowd would collapse the floor.
-
The Butler Act
The Butler act, passed on March 13, 1925, made it illegal to "teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals." The crime was a misdemeanor, punishable by a minimum fine of $100. -
-
-
Scopes Trial Questions
Does the law guarantee a citizen a speedy trial? If so define what speedy means. 1 AnswerGuarantee? No there are no guarantees; however, if it takes too long some cases have been thrown out. Speedy simply means that it is to put as little burden on... read more
Does anyone know of a really good free or trial autoresponder 2 AnswersDo you mean an autoresponder for emails? Gmail has an autoresponding feature. I have used it before and it works very well. It is free and easy to use. read more
Best graphics software which has a free free trial? 8 AnswersThese days, every piece of "graphics software" has a free trial. The real question is what features do you need for the software to be "the best"? If you only ... read more -
Scopes Trial Timeline
- 1925: March 21, The Butler Act prohibits the teaching of evolution in Tennessee schools.
- 1925: May 4, The ACLU runs advertises for a teacher willing to teach evolution, to challenge the law
- 1925: May 5, John T. Scopes is convinced to to become a defendant in the test case.
- 1925: May 25, Scopes is indicted by a grand jury.
- 1925: July 10, The case comes before judge John T. Raulston.
- 1925: July 20, Bryan is interrogated by Clarence Darrow about his knowledge of the Bible.
- 1925: July 21, The jury announces a verdict of guilty. Judge Raulston fines Scopes $100.
- 192: January 15, The Tennessee Supreme Court overturns the guilty verdict on a technicality - the judge had set the fine instead of the jury. The Butler Act remains in effect.
- 1955: January, The play Inherit the Wind, based on the events of the Scopes Trial, opens on Broadway.
- 1967: May 16, The Butler Act is repealed.
- This page was created by Jaclyn, a Part Time Guide in the Mahalo Greenhouse (see the original), and curated by Susan.
- If you'd like to help us create the best spam free search results on the Internet, apply to be a Part Time Guide!</em>




