What legal right was at issue in the Scopes trial?

Question

History

Answer 1

Whether we could teach, in our public schools, something other than original creation.

Darwin's theory, and the subsequent fuss it created, were opposed by very powerful groups at the time. Virtually all of those groups either were religious, or were backed by religious groups. The theory of evolution was considered to be tantamount to Satanism, and people fought tooth and nail to prevent "innocent children" from hearing about it. Therefore, they did not want it taught in a public forum, such as school.

It was the birth of the freedom of speech movement in modern times, friend. A small, but determined, group chose to believe the overwhelming evidence that Darwin presented, and some of those were teachers. Those teachers simply added to their science curriculum..........and even though they had to right to do so, they were a minority, so all "hell" broke loose, as it were.

I'm damn glad they won!!!

Answer 2

The defendant claimed the right under the First Amendment of 'free speech'. The Scopes trial, July 10-21, 1925, Dayton, Tenn., U.S.), was a highly publicized trial of a Dayton, Tenn., high-school teacher, John T. Scopes, charged with violating state law by teaching the theory of evolution. In March 1925 the Tennessee legislature had declared unlawful the teaching of any doctrine denying the divine creation of man as taught by the Bible. World attention focused on the trial proceedings, which promised confrontation between Fundamentalist literal belief and liberal interpretation of the Scriptures. William Jennings Bryan led for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense. The judge ruled out any test of the law's constitutionality or argument on the validity of Darwin's theory, limiting the trial to the single question of whether or not John T. Scopes had taught evolution, which he admittedly had. He was convicted and fined $100. On appeal, the state supreme court upheld the constitutionality of the 1925 law but acquitted Scopes on the technicality that he had been fined excessively. The law was repealed in 1967.

Answer 3

Having lived only a few miles from Dayton, Tennessee and having had both a Grandfather and an Uncle report on the trial for two Chattanooga newspapers, I could answer this question easily.

I could not, of course, answer it just because of proximity and the fact that relatives were there, I could answer it because it was a heavy paper that I wrote in American History, about 40 pages, many years ago.

If you can't read about it and you have to depend on other peoples information, which from reading what I have read in this history forum, you are in a bit of trouble.

I would suggest that you look up materials in the library and read them. Get access to old Chattanooga newspapers and read the articles from the summer of that year while the trial was taking place.

The case was dreamt up at a table in a drug store in Dayton. There it was decided by several men to get Scopes to teach evolution, which he did. That was in violation of Tennessee law at the time. The trial itself was a farce. The defence had Clarence Darrow and H. L. Mencken. Mencken was a self proclaimed expert on every thing. The prosecution consisted of the local prosecutor and William Jennings Bryan. Bryan had no legal credentials, but he was a self proclaimed expert on the Bible. The Judge was inordinately biased toward the prosecution.

For a fictional, but neary non-fictional source on the trial, you can either get the film or get a copy of the play INHERIT THE WIND and get the main points.

Mencken hated the people who did not totally agree with him, and that made him hate almost everyone. Bryan only knew the Bible and little else even though he had been a Presidential candidate before that. He did not know enough, however.

Mencken wrote horrible articles about the mountain Tennesseans and an incredibly hateful article entitled IN MEMORIAM WJB which was written as an epitath of sorts when Bryan died, still in Dayton.

I suggest that you read the play I mentioned, I suggest that you obtain archives from about every newspaper in the world on the trial, and I suggest that you get a copy of the transcript of the trial so that you can clearly see what Darrow did to Bryan. Darrow threw the book at him, not Tennessee book, but Bryan's own book, the Bible, when Bryan took the witness stand.

The play is sufficient to understand that this whole affair was concocted, both the act of teaching evolution and the trial. It was a big joke and it brought world wide attention to a group of people who lived where they were pretty sure that they would get no attention. Scopes was only fined about Ten Dollars and that was paid by a local man, not Scopes. Darrow, one of the greatest attorneys that has ever lived, worked "pro bono" for free.

You can contact Bryan College library in Dayton and see what they have. In the meantime, however, do your own homework and learn something.

Answer 4

the right of a teacher to break what he considered to be a wrong law. The teacher knew he was breaking the law: he felt the law was so wrong that it should not be followed. the court found him guilty but his penalty was so small that the court indicated it agreed with his basic point. The (state) law was subsequently changed.

Answer 5

sounds like homework to me..
but..
the teaching of evolution in school.
the community in which this took place was a pro-God pro creation city. Scopes was trying to teach evolution to his class.

but you could probably get a better (and more correct answer from http://en.wikiepedia.org)..

Answer 6

The right of the school board to out law the teaching of evolution.

Answer 7

The separation of church and state.

Answer 8

Grandpas shithole

Answer 9

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~UG97/inherit/1925home.html

http://www.prospect.org/web/page.ww?section=root&name=ViewWeb&articleId=10084