Scopes monkey trial law repealedIn 1967, the governor of Tennessee signed into law the repeal of the 1925 state law, the Butler Act, prohibiting the teaching of evolution. The law had made it “unlawful for any teacher in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the State which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.” The law had been tested at the “Scopes monkey trial,” which began 10 Jul 1925. John Scopes was found guilty on 25 Jul 1925, and fined $100. But the law had been undermined. On appeal, Scopes was acquitted on a technicality. The law itself still remained a Tennessee state statute for 42 years.«[Image: cartoon from the New York Times, 25 Jul 1925. The cane is tagged "Evolution Trial."] |
