The Scopes Monkey Trial
Clarence Darrow (left) and William Jennings Bryan (right) having a chat.
Background of the Trial
The Scopes trial is all based around one law. And that law is the Butler Act. The Butler Act was proposed and pushed for by Tennessee man John W. Butler. Butler believed that children were being corrupted by things like evolution. He didn't want children to believe that the bible was nonsense. The Butler Act outlawed the teaching of evolution in any Tennessee schools. The law was repealed in 1967. The law was signed by Tennessee governor Austin Peay.
John W. Butler
John Scopes was accused of teaching evolution in a Tennessee school while the Butler Act was active. He was put on trial and attorney Clarence Darrow volunteered to defend Scopes. The president of the World Christian Fundamentals Association (WCFA) called William Jennings Bryan to represent their organization and to go against the defense.