Rural Values vs. Urban Idealism
The 1920's was a time of great change for the American people, WW1 had just ended and Americans were trying their best to forget the horrors of war and live up the good times. Lifestyles were changing as new inventions like the automobile gave people the freedom to travel long distances whenever they pleased while various common household appliances like the washing machine and dishwasher were saving women valuable housework time that could now be spent working in jobs or on entertainment. Residential patterns were also undergoing a massive transformation. For the first time in American History the urban population of the nation outnumbered the rural as people flocked to the cities in record numbers to find employment. The yeomen farmer was no longer idolized as the American Dream and was rapidly becoming a thing of the past as more and more Americans found themselves trading in their hoes and plows for assembly line wrenches. Factories were the new place of employment for the average man, as growing ones' own food became a thing of the past. The average American family was now living off of wages, renting their residence, and buying their food from the supermarket. Appliances and cars incr
However, all things considered, the trial did turn out to be somewhat of a success for everyone involved. Bryan got his guilty verdict, and Darrow got to embarrass Bryan on the witness stand by forcing him to admit that a literal interpretation of the Bible was not always possible. The officials of Dayton, Tennessee got the gigantic media frenzy that they wanted, and were able to put their town on the map, even though a lot of the attention that they received was negative. Mr. Scopes, the man who was supposed to be on trial got off relatively easy. Even though he was found guilty, he was only required to pay a small fine of one hundred dollars which was even put up by some generous donor. All in all, just about everyone got what they wanted out of the trial, though the issue of the constitutionality of the Anti-Evolution bill was far from settled. It is a controversy that lives on today and may not be settled for certain for decades to come. Unlike Bryan, Clarence Darrow was an idealist who favored the teaching of Evolution. He did not have a rigid, literal view of The Bible like Bryan did, and felt that the theory of Evolution and Creationism could co-exist together peacefully. Darrow saw the two as complements of each other, not enemies, and he felt that the Bible was meant to be interpreted liberally. Because of this, Darrow found ways in which he could reconcile Creationism with Evolution. For instance, he supposed that where the Bible said that the world was created in a day, it really meant that the world was created in one of the Lords days, which could have lasted thousands of years longer then the typical twenty-four hour earth day. Darrow intended to get Bryan on the witness stand and publicly embarrass him by forcing to admit that all of the events in the Bible could not be interpreted literally, hence opening up the door for Evolutionary theory. easingly became necessities
Some common words found in the essay are:
American Dream, Bryan Darrow, Bryan Jr, Creationism Evolution, WW1 Americans, Dayton Tennessee, Bryan Scopes, Darwinism Satan, American History, Bible Christianity, rural people, teaching evolution, public schools, scopes trial, bryan darrow, people tennessee, bryan witness stand, perfect opportunity, forcing admit, taught public, trial scopes, trial perfect opportunity, taught public schools,
Approximate Word count = 1292
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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