The ‘Trial of the Century’

1. Set Focus
Pose this essential question: What is the “separation between church and state”?

2. List Vocabulary
Share some of the challenging vocabulary words in the article (see below). Encourage students to use context to infer meanings as they read.

• secular (p. 19)
• constitutionality (p. 20)
• indicted (p. 20)
• prosecute (p. 20)
• compatible (p. 21)
• doctrine (p. 21)

3. Engage
Provide this text from the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Have students discuss its meaning.

4. Read and Discuss
Ask students to read the Upfront article about the 1925 Scopes trial over teaching evolution in schools. Review why the article is a secondary source. (It was written by someone who didn’t personally experience or witness the events.) Then pose these critical-thinking questions and ask students to cite text evidence when answering them:

• What was the purpose of the 1925 Butler Act? Who drove its passage? Why did some disagree with its passage? (The Butler Act outlawed the teaching of evolution in public schools. Its passage was driven by religious fundamentalists who felt that the theory of evolution undermined biblical teachings and should not be taught in schools. Some, however, felt that its passage violated the First Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits the government from passing laws that favor one religion over others or over secularism.)

• How did the Scopes trial come about? What was its purpose and who was involved in getting it started? (The A.C.L.U, wanting to test the law’s constitutionality, decided to find a teacher who would be willing to admit to violating the law in order to take it to trial. Leaders in Dayton, Tennessee, wanting publicity for the town, asked a local high school teacher to volunteer.)

• How did the city of Dayton behave during the trial? How did their behavior affect the trial? (The town treated the trial as if it were the Olympics: Leaders installed park benches and drinking fountains, street vendors sold refreshments, and someone brought a chimpanzee that could do tricks. The absurdity led newspaper columnist H.L. Mencken to nickname the trial the “monkey trial.”)

• What was the outcome of the trial? What impact, if any, did it have on society? (Scopes lost the trial, it never made it to the Supreme Court, and additional states banned teaching evolution. However, the trial laid the groundwork for more legal cases and inspired a Broadway play. In 1968, a similar case made it to the Supreme Court, which found the banning of teaching of evolution in public schools to be unconstitutional.)

5. Use the Primary Sources
Use the Primary Source: Project, distribute, or assign in Google Classroom the PDF The Supreme Court Rules on Evolution, which features an excerpt from the Supreme Court’s decision in Epperson v. Arkansas (1968). Discuss what makes the excerpt a primary source. (It provides firsthand evidence concerning the topic.) Have students read the excerpt and answer the questions below (which appear on the PDF without answers).

• How would you describe the tone and purpose of this excerpt from the Court’s ruling? (The tone can be described as formal and assertive. The purpose is to explain why the justices ruled it unconstitutional to ban the teaching of evolution in public schools.)

• What reasons does the Court give for ruling in support of Epperson? (The Court states that, according to the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the Constitution, both state and the national government “must be neutral in matters of religious theory, doctrine, and practice” and may not “aid, foster, or promote one religion or religious theory against another or even against the militant opposite.” Because the ban on teaching the theory of evolution was meant to favor biblical teachings, it was deemed unconstitutional.)

• What reference does the text of this ruling make to the Scopes trial and for what purpose? (The Court calls the Scopes trial the “antecedent” of the Epperson trial. It notes that the Butler law—over which the Scopes trial was held—explicitly stated its purpose (to outlaw evolution for religious reasons­), which makes it clear that Arkansas’s motivations were religious, despite the law’s lack of religious language. As a result of the Scopes trial, the Court was able to find in favor of Epperson.) 

• According to the ruling, is it ever acceptable to study religion in a public school? Explain. (Yes, according to the ruling, it is acceptable to study religion in a public school if the study is “from a literary and historic viewpoint” and “presented objectively as part of a secular program of education.”)

• Based on this excerpt and the Upfront article, had the Scopes case reached the Supreme Court, do you think he would have won? (Students answers may vary, but some students may note that, given how firm and unanimous the justices were in Epperson, that Scopes would have won. However, others may point out that Scopes may still have lost, given that the Tennessee Supreme Court found Butler to be constitutional.)

6. Writing Prompt
Research one of the following Supreme Court cases and summarize how it contributed to the debate over religion in schools: Engel v. Vitale (1962), Abington School District v. Schempp (1963), or Santa Fe Independent School District v. Doe (2000)..

7. Quiz
Use the quiz to assess comprehension.

8. Classroom Debate
Should states be permitted to allow religious worship in public schools?

9. Literature Link
As an extension, have students read or watch a performance of Inherit the Wind (1995), the play that fictionalizes the Scopes trial. Discuss how the play presents the ideas of freedom of religion, speech, thought, and censorship.