What was the specific legal charge brought against John T. Scopes in Dayton, Tennessee?
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: Teaching the theory of evolution in a public school
Scopes was charged with violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee law that prohibited public school teachers from denying the Biblical account of man's origin. The trial was intentionally staged by local businessmen and the ACLU to challenge the law's constitutionality.
Keep practicing
More Modernism vs Fundamentalism questions
- Which prominent political figure and three-time presidential candidate served as the prosecutor for the state of Tennessee?
- Clarence Darrow, the defense attorney for John Scopes, was primarily associated with which organization during the trial?
- A defining characteristic of 'Fundamentalism' in the 1920s was the belief in:
- In the context of the 1920s, 'Modernists' were most likely to be found in which demographic?
- During the trial, Clarence Darrow took the unprecedented step of calling the prosecutor, William Jennings Bryan, to the stand as an expert…
- What was the final verdict and immediate legal outcome of the Scopes Trial?