Why was scopes convicted

Subsequent days saw prosecutors argue about the validity of using expert witnesses. This provided Bryan with the opportunity for an extended speech on the subject. Defense attorney Dudley Field Malone then countered with a speech of his own and received a thunderous standing ovation. The next day, the judge ruled that any experts on the stands could be cross-examined.

That night, Darrow quietly prepared to call Bryan as an expert witness on the Bible. Calling Bryan to the stand was a shock for the court. Darrow interrogated him on interpreting the Bible literally, which undercut his earlier sweeping religious speeches. This prevented Bryan from making a closing statement. After the trial, Bryan immediately began to prepare his unused closing statement as a speech for his rallies. He never got to use that speech, since he died in his sleep in Dayton the following Sunday.

Scopes was offered a new teaching contract but chose to leave Dayton and study geology at the University of Chicago graduate school. He eventually became a petroleum engineer. Supporters of both sides claimed victory following the trial, but the Butler Act was upheld, and the anti-evolution movement continued. Mississippi passed a similar law months later, and in Texas banned the theory of evolution from high school textbooks. Twenty-two other states made similar efforts but were defeated.

The controversy over the teaching of science and evolution has continued into the 21st century. In , the case of Kitzmiller v. The court ruled against intelligent design — now largely discredited as a pseudoscience — as a legitimate topic suitable for education.

Summer For The Gods. Edward J. The Legend of the Scopes Trial. Scientific American. The Scopes Trial. University of Minnesota. State of Tennessee v. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. John T. That law, passed in March , In the scorching summer heat of small-town Dayton, TN, in July of Born into a freethinking family of English physicians in , Charles Darwin suffered from a host of conditions The Butler Act, as the anti-evolution law was known, remained on the books in Tennessee until its repeal by the state legislature in Photo: Attorney Clarence Darrow represents the defendant, high school biology teacher John Scopes, in what became known as the Monkey Trial.

Courtesy Library of Congress. See Also:- Monkey Trial Revisited. Mencken applied to the prosecution of a criminal action brought by the state of Tennessee against high school teacher John T. In the case Scopes v. The case arose when, seeking to test the constitutional validity of the Butler Act, the American Civil Liberties Union ACLU placed advertisements in Tennessee newspapers offering to pay the expenses of any teacher willing to challenge the law.

George W. Scopes also taught math and general science, and, on occasion, substituted for the principal in biology. Among the many ironies at the Scopes trial, two surrounded the textbook at the center of the controversy. First, Tennessee mandated that George W. Yet Bryan volunteered to join the prosecution team because he opposed the theory of evolution for its association with eugenics and with social Darwinism.

Darrow was a legendary lawyer. Labor leaders Eugene V. Debs and William D. Loeb known more commonly as Leopold and Loeb , and Henry Sweet, a Detroit African American accused of murder in a civil rights upheaval, numbered among his most well-known clients. The trial began on July 10, The atmosphere was circus-like.