Scopes Trial: Evolution in American Courts

The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, commonly known as the Scopes trial or Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case from July 10 to July 21, 1925, in which a high school teacher, John T.^¹ Scopes, was accused of violating the Butler Act, a Tennessee state law which outlawed the teaching of human evolution in public schools.^¹ The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held.^¹ Scopes was unsure whether he had ever actually taught evolution, but he incriminated himself deliberately so the case could have a defendant.^¹ Scopes was represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, which had offered to defend anyone accused of violating the Butler Act in an effort to challenge the constitutionality of the law.^¹