 For much of the first 250 of Europeans living in the US there was a fairly strict religious impact on the people  they tried to follow religious tenants in their daily lives  1870s there was a Modernism movement that wanted to bring religion into the modern times  this strayed big time from the traditional interpretation of Christianity and how it was used  some began to interpret morality to their own views  some began to question the possibility of miracles  some wanted to analyze the Bible as a historical document  this left traditional religion open to criticism/ skepticism

 1910s some began to fight back against the Modernist movement (similar to the Great Awakening some what)  Pamphlets called “The Fundamentals” were created  called for more literal reading of the bible  called for a return to more traditional lifestyle

 How are these battles still being fought in today’s society?  Why is this “battle” important to people (the modernists and the fundamentalists in particular)?

 Fundamentalism grew very rapidly in the early 1900s  Ministries spread throughout the country  They taught that their way was the true way to salvation

 By the 1920s Fundamentalists were gaining in popularity and they were managing to get laws passed to push their perspective  1925 Tennessee they helped pass a law that made it illegal to teach evolution  ACLU looked for a teacher to test this new law  John Scopes a biology teacher taught evolution and was arrested

 The Scopes trial was seen as one of the trials of the century and it pitted Fundamentalism against Modernism  Two major attorneys were brought in  Judge ruled that scientists could not be used in the trial because they were not present at the creation  The lawyer for Scopes called the other lawyer to testify as the “expert” on the bible  this testimony crushed the Fundamentalist crowd as the lawyer stated that he could not be certain that the Bible was 100% accurate  Scopes is found guilty and fined $100

 If the fundamentalists were humiliated at the trial why was Scopes still found guilty?  How has this trial impacted American society since it’s conclusion?

 The trial proved to many that the Fundamentalist approach was a joke  the main spokesman could not even support their point of view  The Modernist won out in the big picture as the US moved more to a secular based society (non religious)

 There was a major change in the role of women in the 1920s  Women became more independent and joined the workforce more  Consumerism became more of a women’s role  Flappers became a part of American Society  shorter less covering dresses  out at the nightclubs with the men drinking and smoking  treating sexual and cultural norms as things of the past

 Why did the role of women change at this time? Think about what happened leading up to the 1920s for inspiration.  How has this changed American society since the 1920s?