What was the purpose of Clarence Darrow and of William Jenning Bryan in coming to Dayton, Tennessee?
What was the significance of Piltdown man? What did the American reaction mean? How did Darwin's theory challenge Christianity in ways that those of Lamarck and Cuvier did not? What was the "eclipse of Darwinism"? Why were secular writers more apt than religious ones to depict science and religion as antagonistic? What happened by the 1920s to rouse the antievolution crusade? Describe the link between antievolutionism and opposition to eugenics. Why was the Taungs discovery important?
What four strands of Christian theology came together in fundamentalism and the antievolution crusade? What was Modernism and why did fundamentalists oppose it? How did World War I invigorate fundamentalism? What were Bryan's roots? Why were antievolutionism and progressive politics compatible for him? How did World War I and religion among the educated fire up his anti-Darwinism? How did it become a political issue? What was Bryan's majoritarian argument? How did Tennessee end up passing an antievolution law? Why did Bryan and Gov. Austin Peay not foresee the possibility of a test case?
How did the American Civil Liberties Union evolve out of the events of World War I? Why did the ACLU object to majoritarianism, and how did it seek to protect freedom of speech? What did Darrow object to in religion? How did his goals diverge from those of the ACLU? Why was the ACLU involved in the evolution debate? Describe the campaign to free education from outside political and religious influences. Why was the ACLU interested in the Tennessee antievolution law?
How did Dayton become the place where ACLU would test the antievolution law? Who was John Scopes, and how did he become involved? How and why did Bryan and Darrow enter the trial? Why did this mean the ACLU had lost control of events? What was Dayton's response to these developments? Describe the grand jury session that indicted Scopes.
Describe liberal reaction to the trial. Describe modernist reaction to the trial. How did moderates and fundamentalists react? How did the secular and religious press report the trial? What was the prosecution strategy? What was Bryan's role? What was the defense strategy? What role did Darrow assume? Describe Dayton's preparation for the trial. What was the effect of Bryan's activities before the trial?
Did the crowd meet Dayton's expectations? Describe the scene in the courtroom the first day. What was accomplished the first day? When the trial resumed Monday, what issues were debated, with what outcome? How was Darrow's speech received in the press, and locally? What solution was arrived at to the problem of prayers in court? How did the judge rule on the constitutional issues?
Describe the prosecution's case, and Darrow's cross-examinations of witnesses. Describe the case the defense wanted to present, what kinds of experts the defense called as witnesses, and what the witnesses were supposed to show. Identify the issues involved over whether to allow expert witnesses. How did the judge rule on the issue? Why was expert testimony allowed? Why did so many reporters leave after the events on Friday? How was written expert testimony recorded? Why did the judge move the trial to the lawn? Who was Darrow's surprise "witness"? What sort of questions did he ask? How successfully were they answered? What did Darrow succeed in doing? How did Darrow prevent Bryan's closing address? What did the jury decide, and who imposed the penalty? Which side claimed victory?
How did Bryan respond to the events of the trial in his last days? How did participants, the press, and the public assess the trial in its aftermath? How did Darrow help and hurt the ACLU's case? Characterize the appeal to the Tennessee Supreme Court. How did the court decide? Why was this a clever move? How did it thwart the ACLU's strategy? Describe the trial's contested legacy.
How did Frederick Lewis Allen's bestselling Only Yesterday shape memory of the Scopes trial? Why did biology textbooks begin censuring and modifying their presentation of Darwinism? Describe how antievolutionism continued quietly to survive and flourish. Describe the popularity of the Scopes trial in the 1950s. How did Bryan's reputation fare among fundamentalists? Explain the linkage of the Scopes trial to McCarthyism, especially in the play and movie Inherit the Wind.
How had the political landscape change by the late twentieth century, and how did this affect the fundamentalist antievolution crusade? Explain why the Supreme Court came to purge well-entrenched religious practices from public schools. How did the Cold War boost concern for scientific education? Why did Tennessee finally repeal the antievolution statute? Explain the significance of the Epperson case. Why is it seen as a replay of the Scopes trial? How have court cases rejected the teaching of creationism in public schools without challenging fundamentalism? How is popular memory of the trial a distortion? How was the play Inherit the Wind newly interpreted during its 1996 revival?
Last updated: Saturday, September 17, 2016 10:44 PM