CHAPTER NO. 27 House Bill No. 185 PUBLIC ACTS OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE PASSED BY THE SIXTY FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1925 (By Mr. Butler) AN ACT prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof. Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That it shall be unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, 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. Section 2. Be it further enacted, That any teacher found guilty of the violation of this Act, Shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction, shall be fined not less than One Hundred $ (100.00) Dollars nor more than Five Hundred ($ 500.00) Dollars for each offense.
The Case The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that it would finance a court case to test the constitutionality of the law. John Scopes volunteered to allow himself to be arrested in order to test the law. He said later that, to his knowledge, he had never taught evolution; he simply went along with the ACLU to give them a case. The day that Scopes supposedly taught evolution, he was not even in class ("Biology: God's Living Creation, 353). The penalty for teaching evolution was more than one hundred dollars but not more that five hundred dollars. The prosecution was William Jennings Bryan, who was an ex Presidential candidate and ex Secretary of State. The Defense team consisted of Clarence Darrow, John R. Neal, and Dudley Field Malone. The trial was presided by Judge J.T. Raulston (p 1, New York Times, July 11, 1925).
The Lawyers Born in Ohio in 1857, Clarence Darrow earned a reputation as a fierce litigator who, in many cases, championed the cause of the underdog. After being admitted to the Ohio bar in 1879, Darrow embarked on a legal career that would span more than four decades. Darrow was a contradiction of sorts. Fiercely competitive in the courtroom, he admitted that he was very fond of championing causes. Nevertheless, he was not the biggest fan of people. He would go on to save many people from death row in several states, but he would occasionally turn down a case because he did not like the person who had been convicted or was accused of a crime. Many of his cases, though saturated with endless publicity, were taken by Darrow on a pro bono, or free, basis. The most famous of Darrow's cases would occur after his return to the Midwest. In 1924, Darrow, then in his late 60s, was allegedly offered one million dollars to defend two boys who were accused of murder. The two, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, had confessed to the Chicago area killing of fourteen year old Robert Franks, allegedly as a "thrill" and to see if they could get away with it. Both Leopold and Loeb were brilliant students at the University of Chicago, and their cavalier attitudes toward the crime shocked many. Darrow, however, did not see how the state could attempt to execute the two young men who he felt were quite likeable. Through the penalty phase, Darrow's arguments were dramatic and poignant. He succeded in saving both from the electric chair. Loeb died in prison, but Leopold was released after serving nearly thirty five years. Having "retired", in his words, Darrow nevertheless accepted another case which would attain landmark status. John Scopes, a Tennessee school teacher, had been convicted under a state law for teaching evolution. Scopes had not taught the biblical version of creationism, and now was facing penalties.
William Jennings Bryan (1860 1925) was a Congressman from Nebraska, three time presidential candidate (1896, 1900, and 1908), and later Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wilson. Twice again, in 1900 and 1908, Democrats nominated Bryan as their candidate for president. The Great Commoner campaigned hard on progressive issues such as anti imperialism, consumer protection, regulation of trusts, and campaign finance reform, but lost both elections in 1900, again to McKinley, and eight years later, to Howard Taft. Although his dream of the presidency was never realized, Bryan succeeded in transforming the Democratic Party from a conservative party of Civil War losers to a coalition more focused on the interests of blue collar workers, farmers, and religious and ethnic minorities. The Great Commoner s increasingly fevered attacks on evolution seemed to strike a chord, especially in the South where fundamentalism and democratic values predominated. Bryan expressed satisfaction with his support, and complaint about Darwinists, in a letter to a friend: In this controversy, I have a larger majority on my side than in any previous controversy, and I have more intolerant opponents than I have ever had in politics. In speeches around the country, Bryan peppered his criticism of evolution with catch phrases and humor. It is better to trust in the Rock of Ages that to know the ages of rock, he told his audiences. Bryan s faith and democratic instincts led to a profound suspicion of scientific elites and modernism. He rebelled at the suggestion that reason should test all things to Bryan, the soul ranked above the brain in importance. He held science responsible for what he saw as a weakening of moral standards. He watched with increasing alarm, in the years immediately following World War I, as modernists, with their watered down view of the Divine, took control of school boards and churches. The real enemies, Bryan contended, were not agnostics and atheists, but rather those who would suck meaning out of every vital doctrine of the Christian Church.
fun da men tal ism ( sometimes initial capital letter ) a movement in American Protestantism that arose in the early part of the 20th century in reaction to modernism and that stresses the infallibility of the Bible not only in matters of faith and morals but also as a literal historical record, holding as essential to Christian faith belief in such doctrines as the creation of the world, the virgin birth, physical resurrection, atonement by the sacrificial death of Christ, and the Second Coming.
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