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The Scopes Monkey Trial

The court case also brought business to the town, which was one reason for the trial. All the hotels were booked by newsmen and people coming into town. In the spirit of the 20's mass media was a big deal in this trial. This was the first trial to be broadcast on radio live. The court house was covered with reporters on their typewriters recording everything for the next day's papers. Also, the nations leading journalist H.L. Mencken was there as well. Mencken came to Dayton as a writer for the Baltimore Sun and the Mercury. .
             Upon the start of the trial it was leaning heavily towards the religious side. The twelve man jury included eleven church-goers, mainly middle age farmers and one non-church-goer. The judge of the trial, John T. Raulston, was a very religious man himself and against the wishes of Darrow opened the trial with a prayer. Nothing really happened the first day of the trial. Later Sunday Bryan preformed a sermon at the church and used this to attack the defense and gain more support. Judge Raulston and his family all sat in the front pew. .
             Monday was the first business day of the trial. Hundreds of people and reporters crowded in the very hot Rhea county court house to witness the trial along with people listening nationwide by radio. The court room was actually rearranged to make sure the microphone picked up everything. On the first real day of the trial the defenses plan was to acquit Scopes of the charges of teaching evolution but to attempt to obtain a declaration by a higher court, preferably the U.S. Supreme Court, that laws forbidding the teaching of evolution were unconstitutional. Judge Raulston denied the motion of the defense as expected. The opening statement of the trial seemed like a large struggle between good and evil or truth and ignorance. Bryan said if Scopes won the Bible would be useless, Darrow then said if Bryan won the case all the work of Darwin would be all for nothing.


Essays Related to The Scopes Monkey Trial

1. THE SCOPES "MONKEY" TRIAL

... to a showdown between traditionalists and evolutionists, which showed the split in the public opinion. The Scopes "Monkey" Trial symbolizes the influences, but also the new existing fight between religion and tradition and evolution and progress. The trial Tennessee versus John Scopes caused enormous judicial changes in the 1920s. In attendance announcers ready to send to the listeners the first live-radio broadcast from a trial. The presence of the reporters shows the public interest, an interest, which demanded a new ... States Constitution. This fact is evidence that trial itself was...

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2. The Monkey Man HImself: John Scopes and his effects on the w

... beliefs, but he turned out to be the savior for John Scopes. The circus started on July 13, 1925. The presiding judge was John T. Raulston. He was a laid back judge who lived by the old fashion rules. The Case was like a carnival everybody in the town wanted to get in on the monkey craze. The local drug store was selling "monkey fizzle." Everyday the court room was filled with hundreds of people ... not the judge. The Scopes Trial did everything that the town of Dayton wanted it to do. The town turned into a circus during the trial, and also put the town and the state on the map. The tr...

  • Word Count: 1778
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  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

3. The "Monkey Trial"

... . They agreed to a trial to decide whose views were proper. The local high school science teacher, John Thomas Scopes, was recruited to be the local guinea pig to be charged with teaching the theory of evolution. He taught the theory on April 24 and was arrested on May 7. Scopes was indicted swiftly by the grand jury, setting the stage for what would become known as the "Monkey Trial." Scopes was defended by Clarence ... Darrow, Arthur Garfield Hays, and Dudley Field Malone. The Chief prosecutors were William Jennings Bryan himself and A.T. Stewart. Pro- and anti-evolutionists viewed the...

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4. The Scopes Monkey Trial

In many ways the Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee limited the quality of the public education. John Scopes was a general science teacher in Dayton. He was arrested for violating the Butler Act, which makes teaching evolution in public school unlawful. The law was made by creationists, who believed that the world was created as described in the Bible. His court case would decide whether such a law was constitutional. Scopes taught the theories of ... still controvery over what schools should be teaching. Some even demand Bible study in school. It was this trial that was a major landmark in op...

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  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: High School

5. Scopes Trial

The Scopes Trial The Scopes-Monkey trial is perhaps the greatest trial ever in the 20th century. The trial was conducted because John Scopes, a high school biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, decided to teach Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution. Scopes decision caused in uproar in the local community because of an anti-evolution statute. With famed defense lawyer Clarence Darrow defending Scopes and William Jennings Bryan prosecuting, the trial was bound to make an impact on the legality of teaching ... he always seemed to hold a bias against the theory of evolution. At the end of the trai...

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  • Approx Pages: 3
  • Grade Level: High School

6. Scopes Trial

... a plan. After much cajoling, they convinced John Scopes to be the guinea pig. He was a local math and general science teacher who was also the substitute biology teacher. Shortly after Scopes gave a lecture to his class about evolution, he was arrested. His trial which will forever be known as "The Monkey Trial" had the intended effect on the small town of Dayton but they underestimated its importance ... and the effect it would have on American history. Though separation of church ... of time because things that are that important don't suit themselves to be changed quickly. The resu...

  • Word Count: 1746
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Grade Level: High School

7. Scopes Trial was an Injustice to the American Legal System

... , Don't Lead The Scopes trial, or "The Monkey Trial," demonstrates the unfairness of the American legal system. It was the summer of 1925, in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where John Scopes was prosecuted for illegally teaching his students the theory of evolution. The trial involved more than a man versus a state, but rather one set of ideas persecuting those who thought otherwise. The majority of American ... an ape-like ancestor. A debate that still continues with no conclusion in sight. The Scopes trial pitted the traditionalists, versus the modernists. John Scopes, a twenty-fo...

  • Word Count: 1918
  • Approx Pages: 8
  • Grade Level: High School

8. The Scopes Trial

The Scopes Trial The Scopes Trial, widely know as the Monkey Trial, has been called the trial of the century, and opened the door to the conflict between creationism and evolution, even though the trial itself actually decided nothing. In fact upon appeal the trial was declared a mistrial due to the fact the judge sentenced Scopes to a $100 fine and there was a law which stated that any fine over $50 had to be set by a jury. So in effect the law banning the ... accomplish what it was legally meant to, it did officially start the battle between creationism and evolution, which continues even to...

  • Word Count: 1289
  • Approx Pages: 5
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

9. The Scopes Trial

The Scopes Trial In March of 1925, Tennessee passed the nation's first law that made it a crime to teach evolution. The ACLU promised to defend any teacher who challenged the law, and this is how the Scopes trial came about. The Scopes trial was known as one of the greatest trials of all time. The Scopes trial was known as the monkey trial. The Scopes trial was held July 10 to July 21 of 1925 in Dayton, Tennessee. The Scopes trial involved a high school teacher named ... John Thomas Scopes. He was being tried for teaching evolution ... ...

  • Word Count: 273
  • Approx Pages: 1
  • Grade Level: High School

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