The Hundred Years' Trial

Law, Evolution, and the Long Shadow of Scopes v. Tennessee

Alexander Gouzoules, Harold Gouzoules

• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781421452180
• Edition: 0
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

A new account of the enduring cultural, legal, and scientific legacy of the 1925 Scopes Trial.

In The Hundred Years' Trial, Alexander and Harold Gouzoules explore the century-long impacts of the historic 1925 Scopes "Monkey Trial, " starting with the development of evolutionary theory and charting the resulting cultural and legal conflicts over evolution in the United States. Through a blend of legal history, scientific exploration, and cultural analysis, the authors reexamine how this landmark trial remains a pivotal moment in shaping modern debates on science, religion, and education.

The Scopes Trial became a symbol of a larger culture clash, where questions of academic freedom, the role of religion in public life, and the boundaries of state intervention are fiercely debated. This book uncovers the complex layers of this conflict, offering readers a broader perspective that extends beyond the courtroom drama. In tracing the legacies of Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan, the authors analyze how the trial's outcomes reverberated through later Supreme Court cases and shaped public policies and educational standards well into the twenty-first century. The authors further illustrate how the dialogue surrounding evolution has contributed to contentious debates—not merely over the acceptance of evolutionary theory itself, but regarding emergent claims and interpretations that continue to generate public and legal scrutiny.

One hundred years later, the tensions between science and religious belief that were so brightly illuminated by Scopes are not only still with us, but also increasingly relevant to the perpetual cultural issues in the American political consciousness: abortion, climate change, and vaccines. The Hundred Years' Trial is vital for understanding not only how we arrived at our current political moment, but also where we go next in communicating science to a skeptical public.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles
• Chapter 2 One Long Argument Interrupted
• Chapter 3 Survival
• Chapter 4 The Toilers Everywhere
• Chapter 5 Divergence
• Chapter 6 A Magnificent Opportunity to Test an Obnoxious Law
• Chapter 7 Evolution in the Courtroom
• Chapter 8 Conviction
• Chapter 9 Synthesis, Resurrection, and the Shadow of Scopes
• Chapter 10 Eugenics, Depression, and the Road to War
• Chapter 11 The Midcentury Moment
• Chapter 12 Lemon and Peppered Moths
• Chapter 13 A Punctured Synthesis
• Chapter 14 Crusades Begin
• Chapter 15 Backlash and Unraveling
• Chapter 16 The End of Lemon and Calls to Revisit the Synthesis
• Conclusion
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Index