Scopes Trial

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.3: American (US) Writing and Culture: The Early Twentieth-century , 1900-1945.
Vol. editors: J. Michael Duvall (College of Charleston), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Tony Papanikolas (San Jose State University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

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Trials and major cases

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Date of occurrence 1925-07-24

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United States (Location)

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On 24 July, John T. Scopes was found guilty of teaching evolution in a Dayton, TN, high school. The highly publicised case, also known as the ‘Monkey Trial’, had its genesis in Scopes’ violation of a Tennessee legislature decree that forbade the teaching evolution. The lead prosecutor, William Jennings Bryan, was famous in his own right. The judge in the case was careful to omit any discussion of the law’s constitutionality and focus on whether Scopes was in contravention of that law. Thus, Scopes was found guilty, fined $100 dollars and was ordered to pay court costs.

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96 words

Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "Scopes Trial". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 November 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=5587, accessed 26 November 2024.]

Scopes Trial

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