Scopes "Monkey" Trial

March 17, 2015 · updated February 15, 2022

“The Scopes Monkey Trial” is the popular name for the legal proceedings that took place in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925, which pit The State of Tennessee against 24-year-old John Thomas Scopes, a high school science teacher. The trial captured the nation’s attention and was broadcast via the radio and coverage of it dominated newspapers throughout its duration. It was eventually made into a movie called "Inherit the Wind" starring Spencer Tracy in 1960.

The trial drew national interest for a variety of reasons:

  • First, it included famous lawyers on each side: William Jennings Bryan (right) worked for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow defended Scopes.

  • Second, it featured rival worldviews: modernists who had no problem adopting Darwinian evolution into their belief system and the fundamentalists in the Christian religion who held that the Bible’s teaching - particularly creationism - always trumped scientific consensus.

The trial found Scopes guilty of violating Tennessee’s Butler Act, which made it against the law to teach evolution in any public school. Scopes, however, was set free when the guilty verdict was overturned due to a technicality.

Why was Scopes Charged?

“Powerful social forces converged on Dayton that summer: populist majoritarianism and traditional evangelical faith versus scientific secularism and modern concepts of individual liberty. America would never be the same again…”