Scopes trial effects on education

Still, Scopes decided to enlighten his students with this new philosophy of the origins of humans and oppose his defined restrictions of speech as a schoolteacher. He had ignited an everlasting battle questioning the appropriateness of rebelling over submitting to the defined law.

On day eight of the trial, the jury rules Sir John Thomas Scopes unanimously guilty. Scopes loses the trial, but in essence, still implants his image on history. His actions reverberate discussion thereafter and the effects of the verdict too garner controversy of the appropriateness of his actions see Fig. Following the trial, many publishers feared the expulsion of their textbooks from the academic curriculum around the United States and hence self-censored their work to exclude any mention of Darwinism or evolution.

Such a trepidation signified an unsaid lack of expression, a lack of voice, a lack of freedom. By witnessing the lasting effects of the case, one can today question whether Scopes had been justified in violating the law, in acting against his defined role as a schoolteacher, in acting according to his own moral framework.

By referring to page one of Origin of Species, Scopes had disobeyed the law and the school district policy and impaired his status as a teacher. According to political theorist and philosopher Hannah Arendt of the early twentieth century, Scopes had acted against the will of his society and acted without true purpose. Arendt believes that action consists primarily of two spheres: freedom and plurality.

Rather, she argues that freedom is the capacity to enact something new and do the unexpected, only possible because of man being born. Because man is born, because of natality, there is a promise of a new opportunity to be pursued. Still, acting cannot be performed with isolation of others. Hence, she emphasizes plurality as a supplement to freedom. With the variety of perspectives — and hence judgment — of others, action has a purpose in the context of plurality.

Therefore, action requires the consent of others, the approval of society, and the synchronization with the thoughts and ideals of the community. Sir John Thomas Scopes inhabited a town wherein the majority did not see his actions as righteous.

Rather, most of the town had been devout Christians, adamant in their views presented in Genesis on the origin of man. Because Scopes behaved on his own behalf, and without eliciting the consent of the community, he did not practice a freedom of action, but rather practiced an act of selfishness.

Another figure shares similar thoughts to those of Arendt. German philosopher of the eighteenth century, Immanuel Kant, argues a position that also finds the actions of Scopes as unjustified and guilty. Through one of his most well-known works, What is Enlightenment? The public sphere is a place where individuals are free from obligation of their calling, and subjects are free to speak or write critically.

Opposed to this, the private sphere is where people have an actual duty to restrain the expression of political judgment and withhold the critique of societal norms. His defined private role ensured that he would remain submissive and perform his job. If Scopes had wished to voice his opinions regarding evolution, Kant would argue that Scopes should pursue such inclinations in his public sphere, in writings outside of the classroom, potentially criticizing the school system and voicing his loyalty to Darwinian thought.

From there, he could garner public support and potentially lead a movement in changing the school curriculum. During the s and the decades that followed, evolution slowly began to reappear in biology textbooks. However, the best-selling textbooks continued to downplay or ignore evolution; for example, the best-selling biology textbook in the s Baker and Mills' Dynamic Biology , published in did not include the word evolution , nor did it include any information about the evolution or fossil record of humans.

Indeed, Dynamic Biology included an attack on evolution, likening Darwin's ideas to Lamarck's and claiming that Darwin's theory was no longer generally accepted. That attack on Darwin was followed by a tribute to God. The popularity and commercial success of Dynamic Biology exemplified the general situation in the s.

Textbook publishers, afraid of antagonizing conservative Christians, said as little as possible about evolution in their textbooks Numbers Virtually all textbooks published in the s and s claimed to emphasize principles of biology, but none included evolution as one of those principles.

If it was included in textbooks at all, evolution was presented parenthetically or as an afterthought, always near the end of the textbook. About two decades after Scopes' trial, authors of some biology textbooks again made a few bold statements about the validity of evolution. For example, E. However, these pro-evolution textbooks were rarely popular. The best-selling books presented a much more conservative treatment of evolution Skoog By fewer than half of the science teachers in the United States taught evolution Futuyma In the late s, many authors reduced their treatments of human evolution.

For example, the nearly 1, words that Hunter devoted to evolution in Life Sciences: A Social Biology were reduced to about words in the next edition Skoog Some authors even tried to reconcile evolution and Genesis. In the late s, many textbooks continued to avoid mentioning the word evolution. If mentioned, evolution was usually described timidly with abstractions and euphemisms e. The evidence supporting evolution received even less coverage in books published in the s than it had in those published in the s Skoog As the s came to a close, there was no evidence in textbooks that evolution was regarded as a major concept in biology.

In the late s, policymakers in the United States became concerned that our nation's scientific and technological abilities had been eclipsed by those of the Soviet Union. These concerns were heightened by the Soviet Union's launch on 4 October of Sputnik I, the first orbiting artificial satellite. This launch announced to America that nature's secrets—unlike political secrets—cannot be concealed and that no nation holds a monopoly on the laws of nature Shermer Ironically, the National Defense Education Act would be used 18 years later in an attempt to ban the teaching of evolution in public schools.

The amendment passed by a vote of to [ Taylor ]. Biologists who wrote those books were shocked when they reviewed the competition; as famed biologist H. The BSCS textbooks, along with their revisions in , stressed evolution as the unifying theme of biology and gave unprecedented attention to the importance of and evidence for evolution. Not surprisingly, the BSCS books were attacked. Some of the attacks came from creationist biology teachers such as Rita Ward, who complained that the books made God unnecessary and stopped just short of atheism Ward However, the harshest attacks came from Texas, where—because of the efforts of Mel and Norma Gabler, two self-appointed textbook censors from Longview—the BSCS books were denounced in newspapers, in church sermons, and at hearings of the Texas Textbook Commission Grabiner and Miller BSCS refused to concede to creationists' demands, and by two of the three books originally adopted in Texas were dropped from the commission-approved list.

Similar reversals of adoptions occurred elsewhere when protesters raised objections Godfrey , Nelkin For example, in the word suggests was substituted for dramatically shows in a discussion about the fossil evidence for evolution. Despite these changes, the centrality of evolution and its extensive coverage remained in the BSCS books.

Thanks to the endorsement of the federal government, increased interest in public education, and legal precedents limiting religious influences in public schools i.

The books were used throughout the country, including in the three southern states that had antievolution laws dating from the s: Tennessee its antievolution law passed in , Mississippi antievolution law of , and Arkansas antievolution law of , the only such law ever approved by a popular vote; see Grobman , Skoog , Moore The BSCS books transformed the profile of high school biology textbooks.

Commercial publishers, trying to keep pace with BSCS, began reinstating evolution in their books. This reemphasis of evolution in biology textbooks did not go unchallenged. For example, in the US Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to ban the teaching of evolution Epperson v Arkansas , U. This decision caused creationists to change their tactics. According to the Genesis bill, evolution was to be presented as a theory, not a fact, and other viewpoints i.

Law Week Given the strong public support for creationism, it wasn't long before creation-based biology textbooks appeared on the scene. Moore and Slusher's book included contributions by various biologists, some of whom later helped write A Critical Look at Evolution Camp , a book edited by a Church of Christ preacher Numbers However, in Indiana, where the book was adopted over the objections of teachers and parents, a court ruled that the use of Biology: A Search for Order in Complexity in public schools was unconstitutional because it violated the separation of church and state.

In the late s, publishers again responded to creationists' complaints by reducing the coverage of evolution in their biology textbooks. For example, between and a section about Charles Darwin in Biology published by Silver Burdett was cut from words to 45 words, the discussion of the origin of life cut from words to words, and the discussion of Darwin's views of evolution cut from words to words.

Sections on fossil formation and geological eras disappeared completely. The changes prompted a variety of comments. It took me a while to understand that the average American is not equipped to combat this sort of thing. In the s several court cases questioned, at least in part, the use of evolution-based biology textbooks in public schools.

For example, a Sacramento superior court found that the California State Board of Education gave sufficient accommodation to religious views of students, contrary to claims that biology classes prohibited parents and their children's free exercise of religion Segraves v California , No. In creationism was an official part of the curriculum in several states e. That is, all of today's best-selling biology books include evolution as a major theme of biology.

However, publishers remain concerned about how evolution is presented in biology textbooks. A variety of people and groups continue to subvert the teaching of evolution. For example, Republican party platforms in several states endorse creationism; education officials in states such as Kentucky openly defy the McLean and Edwards decisions by encouraging teachers to teach creationism; politicians such as House Republican whip Tom DeLay link the teaching of evolution with societal ills such as school violence, birth control, and abortion; and legislatures in states such as Alabama require or suggest the insertion of disclaimers e.

DeLay's power play Misgivings about evolution are not limited to politicians and publishers. Indeed, many biology teachers—regardless of the textbook they use—teach the subject of evolution either poorly or apologetically. Other biology teachers do not teach evolution at all, because they do not know enough about the topic, because they are intimidated by antievolution politicians or administrators, or because they are creationists who reject evolution altogether Weld and McNew In these instances, textbooks are relatively insignificant.

Even the National Science Foundation has tried to placate the public's concerns about evolution; for example, it has deleted the word evolution from public abstracts of funded proposals Pigliucci For most biology teachers, however, today's evolution-based textbooks are important parts of the curriculum. Abbott J. The Elementary Principles of General Biology. New York: Macmillan. Baker A. Mills L. Dynamic Biology. Chicago: Rand McNally.

Camp R. A Critical Look at Evolution. Clouse R. Evangelicalism before and after the Scopes trial. Dayton TN : Bryan College. Cornelius R. The trial that made monkeys out of the world. Darwin C. On the Origin of Species.

London: Dent and Sons. The Great Monkey Trial. Garden City NY : Doubleday. The end of the monkey war. Scientific American : 15 — Dobzhansky T. Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution. The American Biology Teacher 35 : — Engleman L. Futuyma D. Science on Trial. New York: Random House.

Ginger R. Six Days or Forever? Tennessee vs. The trial day started with crowds pouring into the courthouse two hours before it was scheduled to begin, filling up the room and causing onlookers to spill into the hallways.

There was applause when Bryan entered the court and further when he and Darrow shook hands. The trial began — somewhat ironically — with a lengthy prayer. Outside the courthouse a circus-like atmosphere reigned, with barbecues, concessions and carnival games, though that died down as the trial was adjourned for the weekend, over which Bryan and Darrow sparred through the press and tensions mounted.

It was to a packed courthouse on Monday that arguments began by the defense working to establish the scientific validity of evolution, while the prosecution focused on the Butler Act as an education standard for Tennessee citizens, citing precedents.

The statement Darrow made is considered an example of his best passionate public speaking. He spoke for over two hours. The trial itself began on Wednesday with opening statements. Witnesses followed, establishing that Scopes had taught evolution and zoologist Maynard M. Metcalf gave expert testimony about the science of evolution, a signal that Scopes himself would not take the stand during the trial.

Subsequent days saw prosecutors argue about the validity of using expert witnesses. This provided Bryan with the opportunity for an extended speech on the subject. Defense attorney Dudley Field Malone then countered with a speech of his own and received a thunderous standing ovation. The next day, the judge ruled that any experts on the stands could be cross-examined. That night, Darrow quietly prepared to call Bryan as an expert witness on the Bible. Calling Bryan to the stand was a shock for the court.

Darrow interrogated him on interpreting the Bible literally, which undercut his earlier sweeping religious speeches. This prevented Bryan from making a closing statement.

After the trial, Bryan immediately began to prepare his unused closing statement as a speech for his rallies. He never got to use that speech, since he died in his sleep in Dayton the following Sunday. Scopes was offered a new teaching contract but chose to leave Dayton and study geology at the University of Chicago graduate school. He eventually became a petroleum engineer. Supporters of both sides claimed victory following the trial, but the Butler Act was upheld, and the anti-evolution movement continued.

Mississippi passed a similar law months later, and in Texas banned the theory of evolution from high school textbooks. Twenty-two other states made similar efforts but were defeated.

The controversy over the teaching of science and evolution has continued into the 21st century. In , the case of Kitzmiller v. The court ruled against intelligent design — now largely discredited as a pseudoscience — as a legitimate topic suitable for education. Summer For The Gods. Edward J. The Legend of the Scopes Trial.

Scientific American.