the scopes “monkey” trial the fact behind the fiction “inherit the wind”
TRANSCRIPT
The Scopes “Monkey” The Scopes “Monkey” TrialTrial
The Fact Behind The Fiction
““Inherit the Wind”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 Scopes25 Year Old Math Teacher and Football CoachAgreed to help Rappelyea after consulting with Dayton city leadersSubstituted in Biology classroom for 2 weeksArrest was a set-up for national publicity
How It Started
H. L. MenckenAmerica’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”
William Jennings Bryan3 time Democratic candidate for president of the U.S.Former Secretary of State“The Great Commoner”Fundamentalist religious writerChautauqua speakerVolunteered to take the prosecution’s side in the case
William Jennings Bryan
Clarence DarrowBest known lawyer in U.S.Outspoken agnosticWell-known for defending unpopular and admittedly guilty defendantsA 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
More Trial Photographs
Political Cartoons