Question of the Day Answer & Explanation

Advanced Placement-Style United States History
Question of the Day--Answer and Explanation

John Thomas Scopes, the defendant
in the Tennessee evolution case
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Question 947:

The trial of John Thomas Scopes in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925

    (A) proved that evolution was true
    (B) resulted in a harsh fine and imprisonment for Scopes
    (C) helped expose the rift between biblical literalists and the followers of modern science
    (D) received almost no national attention
    (E) resulted in a verdict of innocence for Scopes

Answer:

Explanation:

Scopes was found guilty of violating the Butler Act and fined $100 in a trial that attracted national attention, was broadcast on the radio, and brought William Jennings Bryan to assist with the prosecution and Clarence Darrow to help the defense team. One of the trial's most famous moments came when Darrow called Bryan to testify as an expert on the Bible. The main result of the trial was the depiction of the sharp contrast between fundamentalists such as Bryan who believed that the Bible was literally true and modernists who chose to use science to help understand the origins of life. The Butler Act, which prevented public school teachers from teaching that man evolved from lower forms of life, remained on the Tennessee books until 1967. The discussion over how to teach how life began is still a topic of heated debate in American schools.

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