Fundamentalism vs. Modernism
The twenties were a time of great divide between rural and urban areas in America. Both groups differed in viewpoints on almost every topic. One of the main disputes between both groups was born from the idea of modernism, and fundamentalism. As a brief synopsis, initially, urban Americans believed in modernism, this included the favoring of education, the theory of evolution, and also favored secular values. On the other hand, rural Americans believed in fundamentalism. Fundamentalism did not consider education a high priority. It also took the Bible as the literal word of God, and everything in the Bible as true. Which resulted in rural Americans believing that evolution was incorrect, which then begins to create the divide between people who believe in modernism and fundamentalism (Lapsansky-Werner 223-224).
Fundamentalism Modernism
- Rural Americans - Urban Americans
- Education is not a high priority - Favored education
- Bible was the literal word of God - Favored Theory of Evolution
- Evolution is incorrect - Favored Secular values
(Lapsansky-Werner 223-224)
Scopes Trial "The Monkey Trial"
The one crucial event that brought the debate between modernism and fundamentalism to light, was the Scopes Trial. In 1925, in Tennessee, the schools systems banned the teaching of Darwin’s theory of evolution. However, one high school biology teacher, John Scopes, challenged this ban. He continued to teach Darwin’s theory of evolution in his class until he was arrested. This trial caught the nation’s attention, as reporters came from all over to cover the so called “Monkey Trial”. It got this name from the idea from Darwin that humans descended from monkeys. This trial was so large that Clarence Darrow, one of the most popular defence attorneys in the nation, traveled to Tennessee to defend Scopes. On the other hand three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, favored the prosecution. The trial itself was not of any notable points, but one highlight came from the trials questioning. Darrow called Bryan to questioning and asked Bryan to stand as an expert on the Bible. Bryan, of course, stood his ground and said that the Bible is the literal truth, Darrow tried to counter this through science, but Bryan stood strong. In the end, Scopes ended up losing the trial and was fined $100. Although a loss for Scopes, the Scopes trial served as a huge cultural and religious split within our country, so much that the conflict over evolution and the Bible still continues to this day (Lapsansky-Werner 223-224). One example of this, is located in Ohio. A group of conservatives on a school board. They want to take the approach so that evolution is still taught, but it would allow “alternative explanations”, hence referring to the Bible. They wrote evolution as an assumption, and nicknamed the Bible’s theory of Eve and Adam, as “Intellectual Design”. This idea has a third of the board members on board. The main driving force for the Intellectual Design course is greatly thought out. “They simply argue that humans, animals and plants are far too diverse and complex to be explained by evolution and natural selection, so there must have been an intelligent designer behind it all” ("Darwinian struggle in Ohio").
(Page background image is from The American Conservative)
The twenties were a time of great divide between rural and urban areas in America. Both groups differed in viewpoints on almost every topic. One of the main disputes between both groups was born from the idea of modernism, and fundamentalism. As a brief synopsis, initially, urban Americans believed in modernism, this included the favoring of education, the theory of evolution, and also favored secular values. On the other hand, rural Americans believed in fundamentalism. Fundamentalism did not consider education a high priority. It also took the Bible as the literal word of God, and everything in the Bible as true. Which resulted in rural Americans believing that evolution was incorrect, which then begins to create the divide between people who believe in modernism and fundamentalism (Lapsansky-Werner 223-224).
Fundamentalism Modernism
- Rural Americans - Urban Americans
- Education is not a high priority - Favored education
- Bible was the literal word of God - Favored Theory of Evolution
- Evolution is incorrect - Favored Secular values
(Lapsansky-Werner 223-224)
Scopes Trial "The Monkey Trial"
The one crucial event that brought the debate between modernism and fundamentalism to light, was the Scopes Trial. In 1925, in Tennessee, the schools systems banned the teaching of Darwin’s theory of evolution. However, one high school biology teacher, John Scopes, challenged this ban. He continued to teach Darwin’s theory of evolution in his class until he was arrested. This trial caught the nation’s attention, as reporters came from all over to cover the so called “Monkey Trial”. It got this name from the idea from Darwin that humans descended from monkeys. This trial was so large that Clarence Darrow, one of the most popular defence attorneys in the nation, traveled to Tennessee to defend Scopes. On the other hand three-time presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan, favored the prosecution. The trial itself was not of any notable points, but one highlight came from the trials questioning. Darrow called Bryan to questioning and asked Bryan to stand as an expert on the Bible. Bryan, of course, stood his ground and said that the Bible is the literal truth, Darrow tried to counter this through science, but Bryan stood strong. In the end, Scopes ended up losing the trial and was fined $100. Although a loss for Scopes, the Scopes trial served as a huge cultural and religious split within our country, so much that the conflict over evolution and the Bible still continues to this day (Lapsansky-Werner 223-224). One example of this, is located in Ohio. A group of conservatives on a school board. They want to take the approach so that evolution is still taught, but it would allow “alternative explanations”, hence referring to the Bible. They wrote evolution as an assumption, and nicknamed the Bible’s theory of Eve and Adam, as “Intellectual Design”. This idea has a third of the board members on board. The main driving force for the Intellectual Design course is greatly thought out. “They simply argue that humans, animals and plants are far too diverse and complex to be explained by evolution and natural selection, so there must have been an intelligent designer behind it all” ("Darwinian struggle in Ohio").
(Page background image is from The American Conservative)
Primary Document
Primary document- This document is talking about the Scopes Trial. You can see how it uses the nickname Scopes Monkey Trial. It mentions that the Scopes Trials is called "The Trial of the Century". It then continues on to talk about the question if children in school should be exposed to facts. It also tries to sell more copies and grab more attention by saying the Scopes is being defended by a "super-intelligent Chimpanzee-Man" who is from the future. This document was found on The Onion newspaper's website.
Background image: The anti evolution league holding a book sale directly outside of the scope trial. (© BETTMANN/CORBIS)