Scope Monkey TrialJoin now to read essay Scope Monkey TrialIn a tiny courtroom in the county of Dayton Tennessee, the jury settled into their seats, ready to return the verdict in the most controversial case of the 1920’s, the scopes “monkey” trial. Up to this point, the trial itself had been a media spectacle; the lawyers, the witnesses, even the defendant had become media icons in the commercialism of the twenties. The trial itself was set up to be a media demonstration to challenge the constitutionality of the butler act. This act prohibited the teaching of “any theory that denies the story of the divine creation of man as taught in the bible,” and in particular, the theory of evolution. the American civil liberties union petitioned for a teacher to challenge this statute; john Thomas scopes, the local high school track coach and science teacher accepted the challenge and stood trial for teaching evolution the previous spring. Over the course of the trial Charles Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, the attorneys on the case, debated each other profusely. Eventually Bryan even testified to the truth of the biblical story, even though he was massacred by Darrow upon examination. Despite all that the trial stood for, the most lasting aspect of the trial was that it brought the media into the courtroom, and the courtroom into the daily life of the American citizen.
The most common association with the trial is as an example of the debates that raged during the 1920’s; this case particularly described the battle between the conservative religious movement and the new liberalized ideas of evolution. The case is most often referred to for, and most commonly associated with, the debate between science and religion. The scientific revolution had its roots in the arguments of the trial. “Because of this, scientific thought becomes very prominent and also with this, self consciousness is elaborated upon. With the clear understanding of why mankind is self conscious, commercialism and consumerism start booming like never before!” (Gerstein 14) the monkey trial opened people’s eyes, as well as their pocketbooks; consumerism flourished more so now because people could use reasoning to justify the spending that they did. Every religion in the world preaches some form of love for others and respect for humanity, while science, and especially evolution, advocate the survival of the fittest organism. By developing a scientific outlook on life, people felt less indebted to their contemporaries and instead found themselves concentrating on material possessions.
As consumerism began to flourish in the twenties, the roles of people began to change. The controversies that took place in the twenties most often dealt with the challenge that new ideas presented to the more traditional values of a Victorian period. For example, the roles of women changed during this period, from the Victorian idea of a gentle housewife to an empowered decision maker. America became a radical society that was filled with radical ideas; nicknames such as the “jazz age” and the “roaring twenties” accurately described the tension of this period. “The monkey trial has totally changed people’s priorities for life. Love and happiness have become obsolete and consumer status has taken over.” (Tompkins 14) this was one of the effects that the infamous trial would have on the everyday society of the twenties, and an effect that would carry
The Role of ‘Modernity’ in the Twentieth Century
This discussion is mainly concerned with the role of the middle class in a change in American values. The middle class of the twentieth century was, however, influenced by a large variety of elements in the 19th century—including the adoption of the Tea Party, the radical right, and the growth of social movements for economic change. Many observers think that this change of values has occurred for many reasons.
First of all, Americans began to shift from the middle class in American history to other classes of society, starting in the seventeenth century, and the social forces that shaped American society as a whole are numerous. However, that shift might not have been permanent; many of the changes that the middle class brought to America in the late seventeenth century can easily be traced back to other social forces, such as the abolition of slave trading during the mid-twenties, the establishment of an informal banking system over the nation’s small land holdings and, most recently, the emergence of an innovative and growing new social movement in the early twentieth century. In other words, America was a revolutionized nation with a new, innovative social program.
Second, this shift involved a huge change in the role played by women in society. For example, women in American society were taught and encouraged to go to school and participate in a social movement that was not just about women but about other women. This led to their subordination, but ultimately it helped to end the dominance of the American women over women in America.
Social movements and a shift to a women’s movement in America
In one way the idea behind the shift has changed from the American women’s movement in the seventeenth century to a recent movement of women in America. In American society, when a woman is being raised for a marriage or even having children, she is not alone. Some of this changed because of a new and evolving society: the rise of the Industrial Revolution. Women in the U.S. gained new tools and were trained in this process. This revolution in America led to changes in gender dynamics in society within the United States.
At the same time, what began as a very young generation of women in America began to shift to a new, young age. In the wake of the Industrial Revolution, women began to take on what feminists would call women’s roles in society. Women began to look for ways to work together as friends, to find a safe space to work together, and to be social. Women became independent and were empowered to work together. Many of these movements, like women’s liberation, centered on the desire to establish family values in order to protect domestic needs. In short, this change changed the role that women were played within American society. Women started looking for alternatives to other roles at work, and as a result, became part of the American society from which they gained their freedom.
In short, as women’s roles changed, they began to see the use of women and women’s roles as objects for which they can use their abilities of leadership and leadership to take on many problems facing the American economy.[14] This, in turn, became the American way of life, and the American way of being. Men as leaders started using their power to try to help women at home in order to be valued