Chapter 15: Trying John Scopes

Chapter Summary:

     The events surrounding the trial of John Scopes seem to be entirely blown out of proportion. It began as a conspiracy of sorts among men to take on the Butler Act (antievolution law) by electing a defendant (Scopes) with the real intention of getting the town of Dayton some fame. The defendant was to be accused of violating the law by teaching from a textbook that used evolution in the study of biology, and in the process, hopefully spark a heated debate over science and religion, truth and faith - and what better way to heat it up then to set up two enemies against each other - William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution, and Clarence Darrow for the defense? The "sideshow" of the trial was less about "the actual arguments about evolution's viability or its compatibility with the teachings of the Bible" and more about the exploitation of a town and a simple matter of the law. Eventually the trial's focus was narrowed to simply a case "involving the fact as to whether or not a school teacher has taught a doctrine prohibited by stature," which Scopes obviously had. Evolution and the debate between science and religion was off the table. However, the defense rose that there "was no conflict between evolution and the Old Testament," and they "had expert witnesses to prove it." Although by now Scopes's guilt had basically already been established, the defense still wanted to try and prove "that evolution was compatible with the story of divine creation in the Bible," and therefore "show that its teaching was not a violation of the law." The prosecution argued that the people of Tennessee had already made their opinion clear in the passing of the Butler Act, and no amount of experts could change their mind. Then, in perhaps the most inspiring yet unknown event of the trial, defendant Malone made a powerful speech imploring that the next generation needed to be open to all knowledge, to all of the facts available, and not to succumb to fear. In the end, the judge ended up ruling against expert testimonies, eliminating the debate over evolution and finding Scopes guilty, with a fine of $100. It was as if the trial had never happened, but it was so publicized that it became a legacy in the debate over evolution. 

Chapter Reflection:

     I was actually confused about the whole point of this chapter: if no one actually debated about whether evolution went against the teachings of the Bible, then what was the point of the whole trial? Just so some guy could get fined a hundred dollars for simply teaching out of an outdated textbook? I understand the hype about the sensitive topic of evolution at that time, but it just seemed so pointless to me. I was also confused about who was working with who, because at the beginning it seemed as if the whole thing was orchestrated among a group of conspirators who knew what was going to happen, but in the end it didn't turn out the way they had planned.