New Delhi: Human evolution is the evolutionary process that led to the emergence of us, the Homo sapiens. The theory of evolution is scientific and should be taught to everyone to make them understand the emergence of the present form of human beings. But there was a teacher in the US who was once convicted for teaching human evolution in a school. Surprised? Read on to learn more about this interesting incident.
The troubles of John T. Scopes
John Thomas Scopes was born in 1900 in Kentucky and later his family relocated to Danville, Illinois. In 1917, he shifted to Salem in Illinois when he was part of the class of 1919 at Salem Community High School. Later, he went to the University of Illinois but quit for health reasons. In 1924, he earned a degree at the University of Kentucky. After that, he shifted to Dayton in Tennessee and took the job of a football coach at the Rhea County High School who occasionally acted as a substitute teacher.
The famous Scopes Trial
Scopes was involved in a famous trial which is popularly known as the Scopes Monkey Trial. The case lasted from July 10 to July 21, 1925, and bizarrely, the reason why Scopes was put on trial was that he violated Tennessee’s Butler Act. The act made it illegal for teachers to teach human evolution in any school funded by the state. According to reports, it was an intentional, staged trial which aimed to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton. Scopes himself was not sure if he had ever taught human evolution. Nevertheless, he deliberately incriminated himself to provide the case to a defendant.
Once the case ended, Scopes was found guilty and fined $100. Later, the Tennessee Supreme Court was moved for the case but it upheld the Butler Act while overturning the conviction of Scopes because the judge had set the fine instead of the jury. The Butler Act remained in effect until May 18, 1967. Once the trial was over, Scopes reportedly told journalist William Kinsey Hutchinson that he did not violate the law. He further said that his lawyers had coached his students to testify and that the Dayton businessmen thought he had violated the Butler Act.
The trial affected Scopes professionally and personally and his image became a subject of mockery in the animation, cartoons and other media while he himself largely shunned publicity. He took up odd jobs and even tried to become a politician before eventually working as an oil expert for the United Production Corporation, later known as the United Gas Corporation. He passed away from cancer on October 21, 1970, at the age of 70. The trial served its purpose as it drew huge publicity from every corner of the US to Dayton with reporters flocking there in large numbers to cover the high-profile lawyers who had agreed to represent each side.
Scopes was involved in a famous trial which is popularly known as the Scopes Monkey Trial. The case lasted from July 10 to July 21, 1925, and the reason why he was put on trial was that he violated Tennessee’s Butler Act. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
