1920's Smart Board.notebook
October 03, 2012
Objectives
By the end of this unit students will be able to:
• Identify and define all critical vocabulary necessary to grasp a full understanding of the information being taught in the unit. (fundamentalist, temperance, Creation, Evolution, , Scopes "Monkey" Trial)
• Make clear connections between the topics that are discussed and events of modern day US and World history.
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1920's Smart Board.notebook
October 03, 2012
Fundamentalist Movement
• Belief that modern consumer culture, relaxed ethics and growing urbanism symbolized the nation’s moral decline
• In response (especially rural areas) many joined a religious movement known as Fundamentalism ( Name originating from oil millionaire Lyman Stewarts Fundmentals pamphlets) differ from Literalists in their interpretation of the bible
Belief that the Bible was literally true and without error (The Bible is Law)
o
Believed in being born again and saved from sins & making personal o
commitment with Jesus
Defended protestant faith against ideas suggesting man evolved overtime
o
Especially Charles Darwin s theory of evolution
§
Instead believed in creationism o
2 preachers Billy Sunday and Aimme Semple McPherson stirred Fund. Passions o
using nontraditional tactics Sunday an ex pro. Baseball player drew huge crowds with rapid fire sermons ( §
Great presence and showmanship)
Mc Pherson flamboyant theatre like high emotion sermons using stage sets, §
props, costumes • This was a way to rationalize holding onto more traditional values
• Many Fundamentalists also were strong believers in the Temperance movement. Alcohol is the root of many of our problems and it must be outlawed. 2
1920's Smart Board.notebook
October 03, 2012
Scopes Trial‐ Major highly publicized event at the time
• Evolutionists V Creationists
• In 1925 Tennessee passed the Butler Act
This prohibited any teaching denying “the story of the Devine Creation of o
man as taught in the Bible,” and teaching instead that “ man descended from a lower order of animals” This teaching of men descending emerges from Charles Darwin’s On the o
origins of Species (associated with the theory of evolution) suggested that humans evolved from monkeys due to the results of Natural Selection ( the process of adapting specific traits or characteristics that allow us to survive or flourish)
After this law was passed the A.C.L.U. advertised for a teacher willing to o
break this law that they would then support in the legal process
John T. Scopes a H.S. biology teacher in Dayton, Tennessee taught o
evolution and was arrested and put on trial
Trial took place summer 1925 and attracted the attention of some major o
“high publicity” lawyers
Prosecution‐ William Jennings Bryan( 3 time democratic presidential §
candidate)
Defense‐ Clarence Darrow ( one of the nations most celebrated trial §
lawyers, the Johnny Cochrane of their time)
What did they use to base their argument and why was this controversial? o
The Bible, if you are a believer than you cannot doubt it. Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, this was overturned on a o
technicality at the State Supreme Court Level
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1920's Smart Board.notebook
October 03, 2012
Impacts of the trial; both short term and long term?
Evolution went from being the exception in education to §
the norm
Start of an ongoing debate between creationist and §
evolutionist on what is ok to teach in schools. Separation of Church and State, Faith versus “Fact”, presenting a balanced side, intelligent design?
Propagation of the Urban v. Rural, Midwest v. Coasts, etc.. §
Stereotypes. What does this mean? 4