The Scopes “Monkey” Trial The Fact Behind The Fiction “Inherit the Wind”
Prologue: The Butler Act Tennessee 1925 Outlawed in public schools any teaching which denied the Devine Creation of Man and taught instead that man was descended from a lower order of animals
The Setting Dayton, Tennessee Population 955(+ or -) The Spring of 1925 Rhea County Courthouse
The Cast The ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) George Rappelyea John Scopes H.L. Mencken William Jennings Bryan Clarence Darrow
George Rappelyea Mining Engineer Angry at Fundamentalists Friends with High School Teacher John Scopes
John Scopes 25 Year Old Math Teacher and Football Coach Agreed to help Rappelyea after consulting with Dayton city leaders Substituted in Biology classroom for 2 weeks Arrest was a set-up for national publicity
How It Started
H. L. Mencken America’s leading journalist Wrote for Baltimore Sun 4 bottles of scotch and a typewriter Dayton sheriff had to save him from being lynched by townspeople Referred to people of Dayton as “yokels,” “primates,” “morons,” and half-wits” Referred to Bryan as an “unmitigated ass”
Anti-Evolution League
William Jennings Bryan 3 time Democratic candidate for president of the U.S. Former Secretary of State “The Great Commoner” Fundamentalist religious writer Chautauqua speaker Volunteered to take the prosecution’s side in the case
William Jennings Bryan
Clarence Darrow Best known lawyer in U.S. Outspoken agnostic Well-known for defending unpopular and admittedly guilty defendants A shark behind a “good ol’ boy” face
Clarence Darrow
The Judge and Jury Judge Raulsson
The Verdict Guilty $100 fine Appellate Court Overturned Verdict Thwarted appeal to U.S. Supreme Court Law remained on books in Tennessee for 40 years No other prosecutions
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Political Cartoons