Changes

The trial in 1925 of John Scopes, for teaching evolution in Tennessee, was a defeat of Darwinism, and Tennessee has remained conservative ever since.  The ACLU and liberal trial lawyer Clarence Darrow brought the Scopes case in the hopes of winning a public relations and legal victory, but in fact William Jennings Bryan decisively beat them.

The trial in 1925 of John Scopes, for teaching evolution in Tennessee, was a defeat of Darwinism, and Tennessee has remained conservative ever since.  The ACLU and liberal trial lawyer Clarence Darrow brought the Scopes case in the hopes of winning a public relations and legal victory, but in fact William Jennings Bryan decisively beat them.

The ACLU challenged a Tennessee statute that imposed a fine for teaching in public school that man descended from more primitive life forms.  The statute did not prohibit teaching most aspects of evolution.  The textbook at issue in the case taught eugenics, including that man supposedly descended from lower life forms and that some racial groups had evolved to more advanced levels than others.

The ACLU challenged a Tennessee statute that imposed a fine for teaching in public school that man descended from more primitive life forms.  The statute did not prohibit teaching most aspects of evolution.  The textbook at issue in the case taught eugenics, including that man supposedly descended from lower life forms and that some racial groups had evolved to more advanced levels than others.