Dayton decided they would take up the ACLU's offer and test the Butler Act. The defendant would be John Scopes, a high school math teacher who occasionally taught Biology ("Reporters Memo," 2001). Word of the trial became a center for discussion. Though the actual legal proceedings of the case were to determine if John Scopes had broken the law, the true reason for its popularity was the battle between science and religion. For the Fundamentalists it could have been their greatest triumph in protecting the moral values of our nation. For the ACLU, it was a fight for the rights of all citizens, especially individual freedoms that where under attack by the rule of the majority (The Scopes Trial: A Photographic History, 2000).
The case took many twists and turns. It started with a bias because Judge Raulston was a Fundamentalist who supported the prosecution. The judge, because of technicalities that did not allow for a jury's presence, decided the case. Then there was the component that caused the greatest problem; the defense was not really trying to prove Scopes' innocence. Instead, they tried to prove the law unconstitutional. As a result the judge dismissed the defense witnesses as well as every other request made by the defense. In the end it came down to the examination by the defense of only one witness, the head prosecuting attorney William Jennings Bryan. Darrow's questioning of Bryan would become the pinnacle of the trial. Bryan was brought to the stand as an expert wittness on the Bible, so Darrow could prove the difficulties a teacher would have in teaching creationism. He left the stand in disgrace. Darrow questioned Bryan as to several contradictions in the Bible. It was apparent that Darrow had proven his point after he asked Bryan if he believed the earth was created in six days. Bryan replied that he did not believe them to be days, but periods of time.
Though the trial had been lost, it was initially seen as a great victory for evolutionists. Yet direct references to evolution from biology textbooks were increasingly eliminated. Between the 1920s and the early 1960s, the subject of evolution was hardly mentioned in American schools. Then in the 1950s Russia launched Sputnik. In a desperate attempt to catch up with the rest of the world, scientists were now placed in charge of public school education. This change brought about the inclusion of the evolution theory as an integral partof the science curriculum in American schools.
Modern creationism is a direct response by those who supported the fundamentalist movement to this new challenge. But by late 1960 the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled laws banning the instruction of evolution as unconstitutional (The Creation Controversy: Science or Scripture in the Schools, 1982). Therefore, the Creationists changed tactics. They attempted to show that the evolution theory had weaknesses and demanded creation "science" be given equal time (The Great Monkey Trial: Science vs. Fundamentalist in America, 1990). So far efforts by several states to pass legislation granting "equal time" have been successfully challenged by arguing creationism is based on religious principles and violates the constitution's separation of church and state (Evolution, The History of an Idea, 1984).
Today the separation between church and state is evident in our schools. Yet educators and publishers are as careful to avoid problems as they may have been in 1925. Fundamentalists are not deterred in their efforts to make their beliefs prevail and scientists and others continue to rush forward to stand against them. Across our nation students are being taught Darwin's theory of evolution. It has survived ridicule and trial, its lasting importance will endure.
