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Introduction
The 1925 trial of John T. Scopes for the teaching of evolution in a Tennessee public school is often referred to as the trial of the century. The trial, which took little more than a week and a half and which took place in the small Tennessee town of Dayton, captured the attention of the nation. With the involvement of the ACLU, and such significant figures as Clarence Darrow arguing for the defense and three-time presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan leading the prosecution, the trial turned into a spectacle that pitted and science and religion against itself. The Scopes trial has been seen as the epitome of the creationism vs. evolution debate, with Darrow’s questioning of Bryan about his literal interpretation of Genesis, and the humiliation of Bryan being at the center of the debate. While contemporaries and historians have often written about the way in which the Scopes trial influenced the science vs. religion debate of the early 20th century, of just as much importance is the way in which the trial influenced the debate of majority rule and minority rights. |
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