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Of Monkeys and Men: The Trial(s) of the Century
In Part I of our series, we uncovered the nearly 200-year-old roots of Creationism in America and saw how they are deeply entwined within the settlement of the American frontier. In Part II we’ll examine key events during the 20th century that shaped the evolution/Creationism debate.
The Scopes Trial (1925)
The first laws that outlawed the teaching of evolution did not go unnoticed. The newly formed American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which had been formed to defend American citizens arrested for socialist agendas, turned their focus to issues of free speech and the United States Bill of Rights. The ACLU was very displeased with the passage of the 1925 Butler Act, which outlawed the teaching of evolution in the state of Tennessee.
The ACLU had a two-pronged attack against the Butler Act: 1) the Butler Act was inherently religious, and therefore unconstitutional, and 2) The Butler Act caused the suppression of free speech.
But in order to get their case into a courtroom, they first needed someone to break the law. They found the perfect subject in John Scopes, a young, unassuming biology teacher in the small town of Dayton, Tennessee. As Edward Larson describes him in Summer for the Gods, “Scopes..looked the part of an earnest young teacher, complete with horn-rimmed glasses and a boyish face that made him appear academic but not threatening.” (Ed note: See photo above—yup!)
So in 1924, Scopes was approached—some accounts say in the middle of a tennis game—by the ACLU. He agreed to their proposal, a warrant was sworn out, and Scopes charged with violating the Butler Act. He was then allowed to finish his game. The ACLU began to prepare for the “Trial of the Century.”
The ACLU chose renowned lawyer—and noted atheist—Clarence Darrow to defend Scopes. The state of Tennessee chose William Jennings Bryan, a religious fundamentalist and former Secretary of State to Woodrow Wilson. Both sides originally wanted this trial to be a test of the validity of evolution. But it soon became apparent to the defense that it would be difficult to find respected scientists to challenge evolution. Bryan and the state of Tennessee switched their strategy at the last minute: they were only going to argue whether Scopes broke the law.
As soon as the trial started, the judge also ruled that the case could only be argued narrowly. The anticipated ‘test’ of evolution was not going to take place, as Darrow and the ACLU had hoped. Their expert panel of witnesses were not allowed to testify. Darrow was, however, permitted to call Bryan himself to the stand as an ‘expert on religion.’ While Bryan was enthusiastic in his chance to prove his expertise, Darrow’s line of questioning made Bryan appear to be largely ignorant of many fundamental Christian concepts. Darrow even got Bryan to confess his lack of expertise.
But all of Darrow’s effort didn’t make a difference in the trial’s outcome. Scopes was easily found guilty of teaching evolution, and fined $200.
The Scopes trial did have a lasting effect, however. Bills similar to the Butler Act were defeated in other states, and anti-evolution sentiment seemed to become confined to the American south. In order to avoid conflict and to keep the southern market happy, textbook publishers quietly removed evolution from their textbooks. According to Eugenie Scott, author of Evolution vs. Creationism: An Introduction
The Genesis of Creation “Science”
America woke up with a start from its post-war idyll with the Soviet launch of Sputnik into outer space in 1957. Much to the chagrin of the US government, Russia had beaten the United States in round one of the Space Race. In order to to stay one step ahead of the Russians, America realized, it needed a complete overhaul of its science education.
For the first time in decades, science textbooks were rewritten—this time by subject matter experts and master teachers. These new books stressed important scientific concepts and experimental science. Most importantly, they included evolution. Evolution was not only mentioned, but was rightly described as a fundamental concept of biology that must be understood if Americans were to become leaders in scientific research and discovery. As John Moore describes in Science and its Public: The Changing Relationship, “...nearly every objecting school board ended up adopting the books...there was community pressures on school boards to be up to date, even if a little wicked, rather than be behind the times and fully virtuous.”
This resurgence of evolution did not go unnoticed by Creationists. The federal government wanted American students to learn cutting edge science, and that included evolution. The Creationists reasoned that, if students had to learn evolution, then they would also have to learn alternative scientific views for the origins of life as well. Creationism had to become scientific.
The origins of the Creation Science movement can be traced to one man, Henry M. Morris. A hydraulic engineer, Morris was convinced in the social evils of evolution. In his 1963 book, Twilight of Evolution
Morris spent his life using his engineering experience to disprove evolution by proving in the scientific accuracy of the Bible. In his most widely read work, 1961’s Genesis Flood
Despite the fact that The Genesis Flood was - and is still today—a best seller among Fundamentalist groups, it had trouble breaking into the mainstream scientific community. By the late 1960’s, it seemed to some that the Creationist movement was relegated to a small minority of Morris and his followers. The last of the anti-evolution state laws were finally dissolved in 1968, when the United States Supreme Court ruled that banning the teaching of evolution on religious grounds violated the First Amendment (Epperson vs. Arkansas).
MacLean vs. Arkansas (1982)
But the Creationist movement wasn’t in decline; it was reinventing itself. For years, with the help of Henry Morris and others, Creationists had been quietly marketing Creationism as scientific, and their efforts were finally starting to pay off.
A central tenet of the Creation Science movement was that all scientific theories on the origins of life should be taught to students. This included not only evolution, but Creation Science as well. In the late 1960s and 1970s, so-called “equal time” laws began cropping up in state legislatures around the country.
On such “balanced treatment” bill, Act 590 in Arkansas, argued that the teaching of evolution alone created a hostile environment for religious students. Other alternative ideas about the origin of life, including Creation Science, should therefore be taught alongside evolution. Act 590 was signed by the governor of Arkansas in 1981. It was immediately challenged by the ACLU.
Methodist minister William MacLean was the lead plaintiff on behalf of the ACLU. The case itself was tried before a federal district court, and argued two main points:
1. Creation Science was inherently religious, which violates the First Amendment.
2. There is no secular purpose for teaching Creation Science in schools, and it should therefore not be taught alongside evolution.
The defense was blown out of the water. They were reluctant to put any well-known Creationists like Morris on the stand, for fear they would emphasize the religious underpinnings of Creation Science. The judges easily ruled in favor of MacLean, and the state of Arkansas did not appeal to the US Supreme Court.
A similar case, Edwards vs. Aguillard, did make its way to the Supreme Court a few years later. The justices ruled that Creation Science was inherently religious, not scientific, and therefore unconstitutional. But the justices did leave a bit of wiggle room in their remarks: if a valid scientific alternative to evolution did arise, then it could be taught alongside evolution.
This criteria laid out the Creationists’ next move. They would have to reinvent themselves once again.
