The Scopes Trial Was Entirely Orchestrated But Became an Unintended 1920s Culture War Touchpoint

History Unplugged Podcast

History Unplugged

Society & Culture, History

4.2 • 3.7K Ratings

🗓️ 24 July 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

July 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the Scopes Trial – a trial that exposed profound divisions in America over religion, education, and public morality. This was a legal case in Dayton, Tennessee, where high school teacher John Scopes was prosecuted for teaching evolution, violating the state's Butler Act. The Butler Act was a 1925 Tennessee law that prohibited public school teachers from teaching any theory that denied the biblical account of human creation, specifically targeting the teaching of evolution.

But believe it or not, this entire trial was orchestrated. Local leaders had the teacher volunteer to be charged as a publicity stunt to boost the town's economy and gain national attention. But it soon gained far more attention than anyone expected, as it touch a nerve on the national clash between an increasingly secular scientific establishment and religious fundamentalists. Battle lines were drawn in the courtroom. Clarence Darrow, a renowned agnostic lawyer and advocate for civil liberties, defended Scopes, while William Jennings Bryan, a prominent Christian populist, three-time presidential candidate, and anti-evolution crusader, prosecuted, highlighting their contrasting worldviews. The trial became a media sensation due to its clash of science versus religion, drawing hundreds of reporters, radio broadcasts, and public fascination with the dramatic courtroom exchanges, particularly Darrow’s cross-examination of Bryan.

To discuss the legacy of the case is today’s guest, Brenda Wineapple, author of “Keeping the Faith: God, Democracy, and the Trial that Riveted America.”

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Scott here with another episode of the History and Plug podcast.
0:08.0	July 2025 marks 100th anniversary of the Scopes trial, a trial that exposed profound
0:12.8	divisions in America over religion, education, and public morality. This was a legal case in
0:17.9	Dayton, Tennessee, where high school teacher John Scopes was prosecuted for teaching evolution, which violated the state's Butler Act.
0:24.9	This was a 1925 Tennessee law that prohibited public school teachers from teaching any theory that denied the biblical account of human creation, specifically evolution.
0:33.8	Believe it or not, this entire trial was orchestrated.
0:37.3	Local leaders planned this. They had
0:39.0	the teacher volunteer to be charged as a publicity stunt in order to boost the town's economy and
0:43.7	gain national attention. But it soon gained far more attention than anyone expected because it
0:49.1	touched on a nerve on the national clash between an increasingly secular scientific establishment
0:53.5	and religious
0:54.4	fundamentalists.
0:55.8	Bottom lines were drawn in the courtroom.
0:57.3	Clarence Darrow, a renowned agnostic lawyer and advocate for civil liberties, defended
1:01.6	scopes, while William Jennings Bryant, a prominent Christian populist, a three-time presidential
1:06.2	candidate, an anti-evolution crusader, prosecuted the case, highlighting their contrasting worldviews. The trial was a media sensation, because it's class of science versus religion, and it drew hundreds of reporters, radio broadcasters, and loads of public fascination with the dramatic courtroom exchanges, which was dramatized in the movie Inherit the Wind, made famous by Darrow's cross-examination of Bright We're discussed the ongoing legacy of this trial and what it means today.
1:29.4	We're joined by today's guest, Brenda Wineapple, author of Keeping the Faith, God, Democracy, and the Trial that riveted America.
1:35.9	Hope you enjoy this discussion.
1:39.8	And one more thing before we get started with this episode, a quick break for a word from our sponsors.
1:54.1	Scopes was a media circus trial, and there have been many of these sorts of trials in America's history.
2:00.1	Aaron Burr's trial in 1807, where he plotted to create an independent nation in the United States,
2:01.8	Lizzie Borden's Axe murder trial in 1893, the Sacco and Van Zedy trial in the 1920s, Italian anarchists.
	...

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