The Scopes Trial was extremely controversial for it's time. The whole theory of evolution was just coming into play and many schools had it as a topic of discussion for their science classes. Evolution in general was still not set in stone but many scientists did support the theory and thought it was safe to teach in public school. John Scopes was one such teacher, he thought he would go along with what many had begun to do. It was a very simple topic to many but extremely sensitive to those who were very religious. Evolution went against the notion that god created man. So this is why the trial turned into such a national topic cause the outcome would change the face of how evolution was taught for many years to come.

Clarence Darrow was the attorney hired for the defense. He was one of America's leading criminal lawyers. He was a worker for the ACLU. Darrow said that the choice of academic freedom was being challenged and that by having this trial legislature had indicated a religious preference, completely violating the separation of church and state. Darrow wanted to prove that the evolutionary theory was consistent with certain interpretations of the bible. He showed that in a very dramatic cross-examination of Bryan, which Bryan proved to have very little scientific understanding. Darrow ultimately lost the case, but he was known as a very powerful and good lawyer in the Scopes Case.

William Jennings Bryan was out to accomplish one goal: Win this trial. He was a Populist leader who fought for the people. He was a big supporter of the anti-evolutionary laws. In his last years his activities were mostly devoted to the American religious movement known as fundamentalism. So when the Scopes case came up, he got actively involved as the associate prosecutor. Bryan goal was to show that evolution went against the Bible's word that god had created man, and it should not be allowed to be in the schools. He wanted people to support his cause since he was very popular among

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Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)