Scopes Trial Dbq Analysis

While many view the Scope’s Trial as merely a debate between creationists and evolutionists, it is far more complex than that. It has helped to reinforce stereotypes of both sides, shape how man is viewed, and led to a number of alterations in social and educational spheres. After the Butler Act was passed, the UCLA attempted to recruit teachers to take it to court in the hopes they would finally get their big break. A few citizens in Dayton Tennessee saw an advertisement in a newspaper and decided it would be a good way to gain some publicity for the small town. They asked all of the local Biology teachers, but could not find anyone willing to go to court. Then, they found John Scopes. John Scopes was a football coach who taught general science, who just happened to have filled in for a biology teacher for two weeks. They were able to convince him to go to court, and thus Dayton was put on the map. The Scopes Trial is often referred to as pitting science against Christianity. However, that is far from the truth, despite the often reworded “make the distinction between theology and science,” (Document E). The Theory of Evolution presented was not portrayed accurately, and the “monkey business” in Dayton
The resulting ban on evolution potentially altered how we viewed man forever. The most popular textbook at that time taught a version of evolution we are unfamiliar with today. It included hints of eugenics in addition to the theory. Therefore, had evolution been taught as it was presented at the time, there would be a greater likelihood for more events (Like the one the defendant’s lawyer had just finished) to occur. Not due to the theory, but due to the way it was taught and the potential for it to fall into the wrong hands and set off a human already prone to (issues.) It has also been claimed that the Theory of Evolution would require the South to recognize that the “that there