Answer to Question #147931 in History for Jamy

Question

What were the issues that divided America in the 1920s that led to the Scopes Monkey Trial?

Answer 1

What were the issues that divided America in the 1920s that led to the Scopes Monkey Trial?

In America, the 1920s was a decade full of conflicts. The Americans experienced a great struggle between the new and old America. Some of the issues that brought conflicts in the nation during the 1920s are immigration, gender politics, and evolution. However, the issue that contributed to the Scopes Monkey Trial was the aspect of evolution. The evolution was associated with the origin of human beings where the Christians supported the Biblical origin of humans through creation, while others supported Charles Darwin's evolution theory as the origin of people. This led to enacting a Butler Act in Tennessee that prohibited public school teachers from teaching evolution in class. This contributed to the Scopes Monkey Trial in which John Thomas Scopes, a high school teacher, was accused of teaching Darwin's evolution theory that was against Tennessee's Butler Act.