who is john thomas scopes his lawyer

Who was the defense attorney for John Scopes?

On July 10, 1925, Scopes appeared in a Dayton courtroom to stand trial. He was represented by one of the most famous lawyers of the time, Clarence Darrow. On the opposing side, former presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan had come to town to help the prosecution.

What is John Scopes best known for?

John Scopes Biography. John Scopes is best known as the Tennessee educator found guilty of breaking the law for teaching evolution in his class room. Synopsis. Born in Kentucky in 1900, John Scopes was a teacher in Tennessee who became famous for going on trial for teaching evolution.

What happened to John Scopes after the trial?

John Scopes left town the day the trial ended, and little was heard from him until 1943, when he turned up in Kentucky and announced that he would be running for Congress as a Socialist Party candidate. He lost the election.

What were the politics of Thomas Scopes?

The politics of Thomas Scopes bent left as he became a railroad machinist, a union activist, pacifist, and a Socialist. Although reared in the Church of England, Thomas Scopes moved toward agnosticism in his later years. When John was eleven, his family moved from Paducah, Kentucky to Danville, Illinois.

Who was John Scopes?

Children. 2. John Thomas Scopes (August 3, 1900 – October 21, 1970) was a teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, who was charged on May 5, 1925, with violating Tennessee 's Butler Act, which prohibited the teaching of human evolution in Tennessee schools. He was tried in a case known as the Scopes Trial, in which he was found guilty and fined $100 ...

Who was John Scopes married to?

Scopes married Mildred Elizabeth Scopes ( née Walker) (1905–1990). Together they had two sons: John Thomas Jr. and William Clement "Bill". He died on October 21, 1970, of cancer in Shreveport, Louisiana, at the age of 70.

How did the Scopes trial affect him?

The results of the Scopes Trial affected him professionally and personally. His public image was mocked in animation, cartoons and other media in the following years. Scopes himself retreated from the public eye and focused his attention on his career.

What was the scopes monkey trial?

Scopes' involvement in the so-called Scopes Monkey Trial came about after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced that it would finance a test case challenging the constitutionality of the Butler Act if they could find a Tennessee teacher who was willing to act as a defendant.

What was Scopes' political career?

Having failed in education, Scopes attempted a political career the summer of 1932 as a Kentucky congressman. He registered on the Socialist ticket and suffered defeat. In the end, Scopes returned to the oil industry, serving as an oil expert for the United Production Corporation, later known as United Gas Corporation.

Where did Scopes go to college?

He earned a degree at the University of Kentucky in 1924, with a major in law and a minor in geology. Scopes moved to Dayton where he became the Rhea County High School 's football coach, and occasionally served as a substitute teacher.

Where was John Scopes born?

Scopes was born in 1900 to Thomas Scopes and Mary Alva Brown, who lived on a farm in Paducah, Kentucky. John was the fifth child and only son. The family moved to Danville, Illinois, when he was a teenager. In 1917, he moved to Salem, Illinois, where he was a member of the class of 1919 at Salem High School.

Who was John Scopes?

John Scopes was playing tennis when a group of businessmen called him to the town gathering place, Robinson's drugstore. They asked if he would be willing to be indicted for teaching evolution. Though he couldn't remember actually teaching Darwin's theory, Scopes believed in evolution and agreed to the plan.

Where did John Scopes go to college?

John Scopes. John Thomas Scopes came to Tennessee fresh out of college. In the spring of 1925, he had just completed his first year as science teacher and part-time football coach at the high school in the little town of Dayton. Scopes planned to return home to Kentucky for the summer.

What is John Scopes's most famous autobiography?

In 1967 John Scopes summed up his life in his lively autobiography, Center of the Storm. "A man's fate, shaped by heredity and environment and an occasional accident," he wrote, "is often stranger than anything the imagination may produce.". Support Provided by: Learn More.

Who said scopes was being used?

Attorneys for both sides hogged the spotlight in the overheated courtroom. In the words of historian Kevin Tierney , "Scopes was being used. He was completely willing to be used. But essentially the case had been taken over by the big names.".

Who was the reporter who interrogated William Jennings Bryan?

On the most sensational day of the trial, when Clarence Darrow interrogated William Jennings Bryan as an expert on the Bible, Scopes actually became a reporter for his own trial — filling in for a journalist who had left town! The trial ended in a conviction.

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John Thomas Scopes: Born in Paducah, John Scopes gained fame for being at the center of the "Monkey Trial", one of the most famous court cases of the twentieth century. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Cite this Page

McKenzie Martin, “Grave of John T. Scopes,” ExploreKYHistory, accessed February 5, 2022, https://explorekyhistory.ky.gov/items/show/371.

Who was the ideal defendant in the case of John Thomas Scopes?

The defense found the ideal defendant in the person of twenty-four-year-old John Thomas Scopes. Defense lawyer Arthur Garfield Hays said of Dayton’s popular new general science teacher and football coach, “Had we sought to find a defendant to present the issue, we could not improved upon the individual.” Scopes was clean-cut, cared about teaching and intellectual inquiry, but exhibited no hostility to religion.

Where did John Scopes study?

Scopes replied that he would be, especially if the opportunity were to study geology at the University of Chicago. Mather and the other experts organized a committee, headed by former Stanford University president David Starr Jordan, to raise funds for the graduate education of John Scopes.

What commission did Scopes get for selling Fords?

Scopes had hoped to spend the summer selling Fords for a five per cent commission, but with the comings and goings in Dayton, there was little time to make extra money. Had it not been for his father, who insisted the trial was John’s chance to serve his country, Scopes might have terminated his involvement.

How many witnesses did John Scopes call?

The entire prosecution case in the trial of John Scopes occupies less than two hours of a Wednesday afternoon session of court. The state calls only four witnesses.

What books did Thomas Scopes carry on his boat?

One account has Thomas Scopes stepping off the boat at Galveston, Texas with four books in his luggage: the Bible, a hymn book, Carlyle’s The French Revolution, and Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. Thomas and his wife, Mary, insisted that their children read literature and philosophy—and quizzed them regularly on their readings.

Where did John Scopes go to high school?

John Scopes came to Dayton, Tennessee after graduating from the University of Kentucky in 1924, when the man who served as Rhea County High School’s principal, football coach, and algebra and physics teacher suddenly resigned in late summer.

When did Scopes leave Dayton?

A date “with a beautiful blonde” at an upcoming church social kept Scopes in Dayton for a few days beyond his originally scheduled departure in May of 1925, at the end of the Rhea County school term. He was playing tennis one hot afternoon on the town’s tennis court when a small boy approached him.

Who was the attorney who represented Scopes?

Scopes agreed to do so and was duly prosecuted. His trial became known as the Scopes Monkey Trial. Anti-evolution politician and attorney, William Jennings Bryan represented the prosecution and Clarence Darrow, a well-known and successful attorney represented Scopes. Scopes was found guilty and fined.

How did John Scopes die?

John Scopes was married to Mildred Walker, and they had two children. Scopes died on the 21 October 1970 in Shreveport, Louisiana from cancer. He was 70 years of age.

What was the scopes monkey trial?

The Scopes Monkey Trial. Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution was a controversial subject in the early part of the 20th century, and this resulted in the Butler Act which made teaching evolution in Tennessee a misdemeanour. The bill had been put forward by John W. Butler in the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1925 ...

Why did the ACLU ask John Scopes to teach Darwin's theory of evolution?

This group asked John Scopes to admit to teaching Darwin's Theory of Evolution in his science class so they could challenge the legislation. Scopes agreed to do so and was duly prosecuted.

Where did John Scopes go to high school?

John Scopes was a pupil at Salem High School (1919) and in 1924, graduated from the University of Kentucky with a law degree. He also studied geology at the University of Chicago.

Where did John Scopes go to college?

John Scopes did post-graduate studies at the University of Chicago in geology. He found it difficult to find job opportunities in Tennessee and moved to Kentucky in the early 1930s. He tried his hand at politics but had no success.

Who opposed the Butler Act?

The bill had been put forward by John W. Butler in the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1925 and had been unanimously passed. The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the Butler Act and were determined to challenge it legally.

Who was the attorney for Scopes?

Wells replied that he had no legal training in Britain, let alone in America, and declined the offer. John R. Neal, a law school professor from Knoxville, announced that he would act as Scopes' attorney whether Scopes liked it or not, and he became the nominal head of the defense team.

How long did it take for Scopes to be found guilty?

His teachings, and His teachings alone, can solve the problems that vex the heart and perplex the world. After eight days of trial, it took the jury only nine minutes to deliberate. Scopes was found guilty on July 21 and ordered by Raulston to pay a $100 fine (equivalent to $1,500 in 2020).

How much was Scopes fined?

Scopes was found guilty and fined $100 (equivalent to $1,500 in 2020), but the verdict was overturned on a technicality. The trial served its purpose of drawing intense national publicity, as national reporters flocked to Dayton to cover the big-name lawyers who had agreed to represent each side.

What was the Scopes v. State case?

John Thomas Scopes and commonly referred to as the Scopes Monkey Trial, was an American legal case in July 1925 in which a high school teacher, John T. Scopes, was accused of violating Tennessee 's Butler Act, which had made it unlawful to teach human evolution in ...

Who was the attorney who was accused of teaching evolution?

Hicks at Robinson's Drug Store, convincing them that the controversy of such a trial would give Dayton much needed publicity. According to Robinson, Rappleyea said, "As it is, the law is not enforced. If you win, it will be enforced. If I win, the law will be repealed. We're game, aren't we?" The men then summoned 24-year-old John T. Scopes, a Dayton high school science and math teacher. The group asked Scopes to admit to teaching the theory of evolution.

Who was the prosecutor in the center of the storm?

As Scopes pointed out to James Presley in the book Center of the Storm, on which the two collaborated: "After [Bryan] was accepted by the state as a special prosecutor in the case, there was never any hope of containing the controversy within the bounds of constitutionality.".

What did the jury foreman call the violation of the Act?

He also warned the jury not to judge the merit of the law (which would become the focus of the trial) but on the violation of the Act, which he called a 'high misdemeanor' . The jury foreman himself was unconvinced of the merit of the Act but he acted, as did most of the jury, on the instructions of the judge.

Where did John Scopes teach?

Scopes chose the offer to teach and coach in Dayton, Tennessee, because Dayton was a small community and he “didn’t want to get into deep water” ( Shelton & Smith, 1979, 25:35–49). Within a year, however, Scopes was convicted of teaching human evolution, his teaching career was over, and he had become one of the most famous criminal defendants in American history.

Who was the lead counsel in the Scopes trial?

John Scopes (center, in bowtie), Scopes Trial instigator George Rappleyea (left), and Scopes’s lead counsel John Randolph Neal (right) in Dayton, Tennessee, July 1925. In the background are Rappleyea’s car and the smokestacks of Cumberland Coal and Iron Company (formerly Dayton Coal and Iron Company).

Who was John Scopes' uncle?

John Scopes never spoke directly about his trial with any of his great-grandnieces, who all referred to him as Uncle J.T. However, they all heard about the trial from their family.

Overview

Early life

Trial

Life after the trial

Personal life and death

See also

Further reading

External links