Encyclopedia of Evolution.pdf - Online Reading Center

Comparison of Inherit the Wind with the Actual Scopes Trial
In the actual Scopes Trial: In Inherit the Wind:
1. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) sponsored the defense as a
test case for intellectual freedom. The ACLU placed an advertisement
in Tennessee newspapers offering to pay legal expenses for
any teacher who was willing to challenge the Butler Law, which
prohibited the teaching of evolution. Although the ACLU arranged
for the defense, Clarence Darrow offered his services for free (the
only time he ever did so). One of the local trial organizers, George
Rappleyea, was supportive of the defense.
2. Bryan befriended Darrow as much as circumstances allowed.
3. Darrow had recently defended two young men who are generally
considered to have been guilty of a horrendous crime.
4. No one had observed Scopes teaching evolution. In fact, Scopes
himself was unable to recall, under oath, whether he had actually
taught evolution in a manner that contradicted Tennessee law.
The indictment against Scopes was largely a staged event to bring
attention, and business, into the community. It worked: To this day,
Dayton, Tennessee, is a tourist stop primarily because of this trial that
occurred 80 years ago.
5. In the trial, the local citizenry took little interest in what Scopes was
or was not teaching, particularly since he was not a science teacher.
He was a coach, who substituted for the regular science teacher (W.
F. Ferguson) during a two-week illness. Scopes was never formally
arrested and spent no time in jail. Occasionally he showed up late for
the trial, which started without him. Clearly, the Scopes trial was not
primarily about Scopes.
6. The events in the other box 6 are all (except Cates and Mrs. Brady)
fictitious characters. All the events are fictitious, although the story of
the little boy was based on a real, though unconnected, occurrence.
7. Both Bryan and Darrow were welcomed warmly. Both were famous
men, which was perfect for the real purpose of the trial: putting
Dayton on the map. Bryan had no animosity toward Scopes and even
offered to pay his fine. It was H. L. Mencken who was not appreciated
by the locals.
8. Bryan enjoyed and supported science. He had read Darwin’s Origin
of Species. He even approved the teaching of evolution, with the
exception of human evolution. He did not attempt to defend a recent
creation of the Earth.
9. Twelve scientists and theologians testified for the defense.
10. Bryan admitted that some passages of the Bible were not intended for
literal interpretation.
11. The trial was the end of Scopes’s teaching career, because he chose
to go on to graduate school (he became a geologist).
12. Bryan died five days after the trial.
13. Perhaps most importantly, Darrow asks for a guilty verdict. The main
reason for this was so that the case could go to a higher court.
Scopes Trial
1. The ACLU is not mentioned. Instead, the newspaper that sent
Hornbeck (Mencken) to the trial paid for the defense. All of the
local organizers are militant fundamentalists defending Hillsboro
against atheism imported from the big city.
2. Brady (Bryan) and Drummond (Darrow) had been friends many
years previously, but ended up in fierce battle.
3. Drummond (Darrow) had done nothing more than defend some
sexually explicit literature, thus making his entire career seem to
consist of defending intellectual freedom.
4. The preacher and local dignitaries stalked into Scopes’s
classroom and observed the teaching of human evolution. The
trial was, for them, a crusade, even though they recognized
that “the whole world is laughing at us.” The town leaders did
recognize the economic benefits that national notice would
bring, but only after Matthew Harrison Brady (William Jennings
Bryan) entered the scene.
5. In the play and movie, the local citizenry took intense interest:
They marched, shouted, burned Cates (Scopes) in effigy, and
threw a rock through the window of the prison in which he was
kept (although the jailer let him out long enough to play cards and
meet with his fiancée). They sing “Gimme That Ol’ Time Religion”
numerous times, making it the only annoying aspect of an
otherwise monumental movie. The movie clearly depicted Cates
(Scopes) as a martyr.
6. Cates (Scopes) had a fiancée, none other than the daughter of
the community’s minister, Rev. Jeremiah Brown. She wanted
Cates to recant but remained by his side even as Rev. Brown
damned Cates (most memorably in a public sermon) and,
indirectly, her. The minister is represented as unquestionably
abusive to his family and community, as when he proclaimed
that the “little Stebbins boy” would go to hell because he missed
Sunday school before he drowned. Mrs. Brady (Bryan) slaps the
young woman.
7. Brady (Bryan) is welcomed with a parade and cheers, while
Drummond (Darrow) is virtually unnoticed upon his arrival;
Drummond is later confronted by placards accusing him of
bringing Satan into the God-fearing community.
8. Brady (Bryan) considers science to be ungodly and would not
consider reading Darwin’s book. He claims the Earth was created
in 4004 b.c., which allowed Drummond (Darrow) to make him look
foolish.
9. No such testimony was allowed in the fictional version.
10. Brady (Bryan) proclaims a literal belief in every passage of the
Bible.
11. Scopes’ teaching career was finished because he was fired.
12. Brady died while trying to deliver what he considered his most
important speech, and to which nobody was listening.
13. Drummond (Darrow) defends the teacher’s innocent plea.