Scopes Monkey Trial Ends with Guilty Verdict

Summary

In the 1920s, tensions between religious fundamentalism and modern science ran high in parts of the United States, leading Tennessee to pass the Butler Act in March 1925 prohibiting the teaching of human evolution in public schools. Local businessman George Rappleyea in Dayton, Tennessee, recruited high school teacher John T. Scopes to test the law deliberately as a way to bring attention and economic benefit to the small town. The resulting trial, pitting defense attorney Clarence Darrow against prosecutor William Jennings Bryan, drew massive national media coverage and featured dramatic testimony including Bryan's cross-examination on biblical interpretation. On July 21, 1925, after eight days of proceedings, the jury deliberated for just nine minutes before finding Scopes guilty of violating the law and fining him $100. The verdict stood as a legal win for the prosecution but a public relations setback for anti-evolution forces amid widespread coverage of the scientific arguments presented.