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== Scopes Trial ==

== Scopes Trial ==

William Jennings Bryan, you should recall, resigned as Secretary of State under President Wilson because Bryan was morally opposed to Americans entering World War I.  After the war, Bryan toured Europe and kept asking himself:  what caused this enormous inhumanity by mankind?  World War I was by far the most brutal and atrocious war in the history of the world, with unspeakable slaughter of human life which included chemical warfare.  Bryan did some soul-searching and wondered how it was possible that men would do this to each other.

William Jennings Bryan, you should recall, resigned as Secretary of State under President Wilson because Bryan was morally opposed to American involvement in World War I.  After the war, Bryan toured Europe and kept asking himself:  what caused this enormous inhumanity by mankind?  World War I was by far the most brutal and atrocious war in the history of the world, with unspeakable slaughter of human life which included chemical warfare.  Bryan did some soul-searching and wondered how it was possible that men would do this to each other.

He found his answer in the Darwinism that gripped England and Germany.  World War I was, simply put, survival of the fittest by those who had come to believe that only the fittest should survive.  It was application of Darwin's theory to mankind itself.

He found his answer in the Darwinism that gripped England and Germany.  World War I was, simply put, survival of the fittest by those who had come to believe that only the fittest should survive.  It was application of Darwin's theory to mankind itself.

Upon his return to the United States, Bryan felt a calling to prevent the spread of this misguided theory to American.  He supported State laws against teaching, to impressionable children in school, that man had evolved from lower life forms.  Tennessee had such a law, and the ACLU challenged it in the name of schoolteacher John Scopes.  William Jennings Bryan offered his formidable legal talents to the State of Tennessee to defend the law.  The ACLU retained Clarence Darrow, the leading criminal defense attorney and believer in evolution.  This became the legal fight of the century, Darrow (and Darwin) v. Bryan.

Upon his return to the United States, Bryan felt a calling to prevent the spread of this misguided theory to American.  He supported State laws against teaching, to impressionable children in school, that man had evolved from lower life forms.  Tennessee had such a law banning the teaching of the theory of human evolution in public school.   

So many people flocked to watch the trial that it was often held outside the courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee.  An atheist (and bigot) H.L. Mencken, the leading journalist of the first half of the 20th century, traveled from Baltimore to give his "spin" (bias reporting) on what happened.  Mencken's account misled the world into thinking that Darrow (and Darwin) had won. In fact, the opposite occurred: Bryan won, Darrow's client Scopes was convicted, and the Tennessee law remained in effect for nearly another 50 years.  Tennessee has remained conservative to this day; Tennessee voted against its own liberal resident Al Gore for President in 2000, giving George W. Bush the national election, and in 2008 presidential candidate John McCain defeated Barack Obama by 15 percentage points there, despite Obama winning by 7 points nationwide.

In 1925, The ACLU defended schoolteacher John Scopes against enforcement of the law.  William Jennings Bryan offered his formidable legal talents to the State of Tennessee to defend the law.  The ACLU retained Clarence Darrow, the leading criminal defense attorney and himself a believer in evolution.  This became the legal fight of the century, Darrow (and Darwin) v. Bryan.

Bryan and the State of Tennessee objected to the textbook being used by Scopes in the public school in the town of Dayton.  The textbook taught that the Piltdown Man was the "missing link" proving that man had somehow evolved from apes.  Years later the Piltdown Man was proven to be a complete fraud perpetrated by evolutionists. The textbook was also racist in teaching that whites had evolved to a higher life form than blacks.

So many people flocked to watch the trial that it was often held outside the courthouse in Dayton, Tennessee.  An atheist (and bigot) H.L. Mencken, the leading journalist of the first half of the 20th century, traveled from Baltimore to give his "spin" (biased reporting) on what happened.  Mencken's account misled the world into thinking that Darrow (and Darwin) had won.  In fact, the opposite occurred: Bryan won, Darrow's client Scopes was convicted, and the Tennessee law remained in effect for nearly another 50 years.  Tennessee has remained conservative to this day; Tennessee voted against its own liberal resident Al Gore for President in 2000, giving George W. Bush the national election, and in 2008 presidential candidate John McCain defeated Barack Obama by 15 percentage points there, despite Obama winning by 7 points nationwide.

The climax of the trial occurred when Bryan agreed to take the witness stand himself (which is unusual for an attorney) to answer Darrow's best questions, provided that Darrow likewise took the witness stand to answer Bryan's questions.  Darrow agreed, and Bryan took the witness stand before a huge audience that gathered to hear perhaps the greatest orator in American history.

 

 

The climax of the trial occurred when Bryan agreed to take the witness stand himself (which is unusual for an attorney) in order to answer Darrow's best questions, if Darrow likewise took the witness stand to answer Bryan's questions.  Darrow agreed, and Bryan took the witness stand before a huge audience that gathered to hear one of the finest orators in American history.

This "cross-examination" of Bryan by Darrow included the following:<ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/day7.htm</ref>

This "cross-examination" of Bryan by Darrow included the following:<ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/day7.htm</ref>

The next day, it was Darrow's turn to be cross-examined as he had agreed. But instead of upholding his end of the bargain, Darrow stunned everyone by asking the jury to find his client guilty!<ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/day8.htm</ref>   

The next day, it was Darrow's turn to be cross-examined as he had agreed. But instead of upholding his end of the bargain, Darrow stunned everyone by asking the jury to find his client guilty!<ref>http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/scopes/day8.htm</ref>   

The jury then deliberated for only 9 minutes, which is probably a record.  It found Darrow's client guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of $100, which was eliminated on a technicality on appeal.<ref>The Tennessee Constitution had a clause that any fine that high must be set by a jury, not by the judge.  The state's Supreme Court vacated the verdict due to that, and then ruled that because Scopes no longer lived in the state, the case was moot.</ref>

The jury then deliberated for only 9 minutes, which is probably a record.  It found Darrow's client guilty and ordered him to pay a fine of $100, which was eliminated on a technicality on appeal.<ref>The Tennessee Constitution had a clause that any fine that high ($100 was a lot of money in 1925) must be set by a jury, not by the judge.  The state's Supreme Court vacated the verdict due to that, and then ruled that because Scopes no longer lived in the state, the case was moot.</ref>

== Review ==

== Review ==