Fundamentalist Crusades of the Twenties Scopes Monkey Trial & Prohibition

Fundamentalist Crusades of the Twenties

Scopes Monkey Trial & Prohibition

Presentation created by Robert MartinezPrimary Content Source: America’s HistoryImages as cited.

The cultural shift of the Roaring Twenties did not sit well with Protestant America. Traditional

women’s roles and fashions were changing. Jazz music and alcoholic spirits symbolized

the lost path of Urban America. Fundamentalists looked to the strict adherence

of the Bible to restore good “old-fashioned” morality.

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In 1925, the Tennessee state legislature made it “unlawful… to teach any theory [Darwin] that denies the story of the Divine creation of man

as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of

animals.”

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Charles Darwin is controversial for his work on natural selection, the

idea that all species of life have evolved over time

from common ancestors.

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Not only did Darwin develop the idea of natural selection, he also presented compelling

evidence from his detailed research which included a five year voyage on the HMS Beagle.

Voyages of HMS Beagle

Darwin’s 1859 book ‘The Origin of Species’, detailed much of his research on natural selection, it contained a large amount of

evidence to back up his ideas and became a landmark work in the field of evolutionary

biology.

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The American Civil Liberties Union

(ACLU), which had been formed during

the Red Scare to protect free speech rights, challenged

the constitutionality of the law.

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The ACLU intervened in the trial of John T.

Scopes, a high school biology teacher, who

had taught the principles of evolution to his class and faced

a jail sentence for doing so.

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The case attracted national attention because Clarence Darrow, a famous criminal lawyer,

defended Scopes, and William Jennings Bryan, three-time presidential candidate and ardent fundamentalist, spoke for the prosecution.

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Clarence Darrow

William Jennings Bryan

The press dubbed the Scopes Trial the “Monkey Trial.”

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The label referred both to Darwin’s argument that human beings and primates share a

common ancestor and to the circus atmosphere at the trial, which was broadcast

live over Chicago radio station WGN.

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The jury took only 8

minutes to deliver its

guilty verdict.

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Though the Tennessee Supreme Court overturned Scope’s conviction, the

controversial law remained on the books for more than thirty years.

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For a more complete description of the Scope Trial –

Click on the link below.http://historymartinez.wordpress.com/?s=scopes

Like the dispute over evolution,

Prohibition – the “noble

experiment,” as it was called –

involved the power of the state to enforce social

values.

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Americans drank less after the 18th Amendment took effect in January 1920, but those who continued to drink gave

the decade its reputation as the Roaring Twenties.

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Urban ethnic groups, German, Irish, Italian, had long opposed restrictions on drinking and refused to comply with the

new law.

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Some brewed their own beer or distilled “bathtub gin.”

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Many others patronized illegal saloons, called speakeasies, that sprang up

everywhere, there were more than 30,000 speakeasies in New York City alone.

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Liquor smugglers operated with ease along Canadian and Mexican borders,

and used speedboats to land cargoes of wine, gin, and liquor along the Atlantic

Coast.

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Organized crime which already had a presence among Italians and Jews in

major cities, took over the bootleg trade and grew wealthy from its profits.

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The “noble experiment” turned out to be a dismal

failure.

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Those Americans who favored repeal of the 18th Amendment, the “wets”, slowly

built support for their cause in Congress and the state legislatures.

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The coming of the Great Depression hastened the process, so politicians

looked for ways to create jobs and raise tax revenue. Repealing the amendment

would supply both.

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With the ratification of

the 21th Amendment on

December 5, 1933,

nationwide Prohibition

came to an end.

For further information regarding the Prohibition Era

click on the link below.http://historymartinez.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/prohibition-photostory.ppt