Monkey trial
Brief history: 1925, a world-famous "ape lawsuit" took place in the United States, which is known as the most developed country. Darwin overthrew the "creationism" with the theory of evolution in his scientific masterpiece The Origin of Species, which completed a leap in human understanding of nature. However, in the 66th year after the publication of the Origin of Species and the 43rd year after Darwin's death, an absurd "ape lawsuit" took place in the so-called most developed America.
In the early 1920s, an anti-evolution movement led by Brian, a democratic politician, arose in American society, which had such a great influence on American politics that the Florida legislature passed a resolution at 1923, claiming that "Darwinism, atheism and agnosticism" should not be taught as truth in state public schools. 1925 Tennessee Act more clearly declares that any teacher in all universities, normal schools and other public schools at all levels in the state will be considered illegal and guilty if he teaches any heresy that denies that God created man.
With the flood of this trend, on May 7th, 1925, Brian sued the local government in Dayton, Tennessee, accusing scopes, a young local biology teacher, of violating state laws by teaching evolution in class. The indictment reads: "If people evolved from apes, what did God do?" The Dayton Town Court decided to hold a hearing on the case on July 10.
This case shocked the whole United States. On the day of the trial, many famous professors and scientists, led by Professor Coatley Mather of Harvard University, took their seats in the court, ready to defend the defendant. More than 100 reporters flocked to the scene to report. Fundamentalists from the mountains near Dayton came to cheer for Brian. This small town with a population of only 1500 suddenly boiled.
The plaintiff's main lawyer is Brian, the leader of the paunchy and anti-evolution movement. He was eloquent and was elected as the presidential candidate by the Democratic Party three times. His son, Tennessee Attorney General Tom Stiefvater, was his assistant. Defenders of the defendant are Clarence Darrow, a famous criminal lawyer, Dart Field Milo, a personable man, and Arthur Garfield Hayes, a knowledgeable scholar. The lineup of both sides is amazing, but the jury is dwarfed. Of the 12 jurors, 3 have read nothing but the Bible. One of them was illiterate.
John Laws, the presiding judge, invited a local priest to pray for the trial. Then the trial began. After a preliminary confrontation with the legal process, the legal hero stood up and made an opening speech: "My dear friend, Mr. Attorney General, said that John scopes should understand why he came here for trial, and I also know why he came. He came here for trial only because of the ignorance and stubbornness of others, who have merged into a vicious stream. " Later, the legal hero warned: "Today, the teacher is on trial, and tomorrow, he may be the editor of a magazine or newspaper or the author of a book. Soon, this will lead to confrontation between people and between religions, and we will not stop until we return to that' glorious'16th century. At that time, whoever dares to bring wisdom, enlightenment and culture to mankind will be burned to death by diehards. " However, this warning from hitting the floor did not stop the trial from continuing.
The next day, the prosecution began, and the court summoned witnesses to appear in court. Two students in scopes timidly testified that scopes taught them the theory of evolution. But added that they were not poisoned.
After the testimony, Brian thought that the dispute was clear, stood up and shouted to the jury in a straightforward voice: "Christians believe that God created man, while evolution believes that man evolved from protozoa." He waved a biology textbook in one hand and angrily condemned the scientist who came to Dayton to defend the defendant: "The Bible will never be driven out of court by experts from afar. They want to confuse and compare the evolutionary theory that human ancestors came from the jungle with the theory that God created people according to his will and arranged them on the earth. "
Say that finish, he is on his high horse, his eyes are shining and his face is proud. The audience did burst into applause and shouted "Amen".
At this time, Milo was angry and retorted, "I'm afraid Mr. Brian is not the only guardian of the Bible. In this country, many people have dedicated everything to God and religion. On the other hand, Mr. Brian devoted most of his time to busy politics with great energy and enthusiasm. " Milo raised his voice and continued: "You can't fight the truth, and the truth is invincible. We don't have to worry about this. The truth doesn't need anything, Mr. Brian. Truth is eternal. It doesn't need any support from anyone. "
After Milo finished, there was a moment's silence in the court. Then generate gave a storm of applause, which greatly drowned out the previous applause for Brian. Although Milo won the war of words, the court no longer allowed scientists to defend the defendant and announced an adjournment.
Due to the sultry weather, this ancient and narrow court can't accommodate a large audience. After the second court session, the trial was moved outside under a big maple tree. More than 2000 spectators sat on wooden oranges, squatted on the grass, climbed onto the roof and watched from the windows of surrounding buildings.
After the trial began, the prosecution attacked evolution with the help of the Bible. The hero in the legal circle cleverly refuted Brian: "As we all know, Mr. Brian is an expert in studying the Bible. As an authority in the academic research field of the Bible, he has become famous all over the world. " The flattery of the legal hero surprised the judge and blinded Brian. I only listened to the dialogue between the heroes in the legal circle and read a passage in Genesis: "On the first day, God created morning and night. Do you believe that the sun was created on the fourth day? " Brian's answer is: I believe. The legal hero asked, "So, how can there be morning and night without the sun?"
Brian kept wiping the sweat from his bald head, unable to speak. The crowd burst into laughter, and even devout Christians couldn't help laughing. The legal hero glanced around and pressed hard to ask Brian if he believed Eve's story. Brian's answer is of course yes. "God made snakes crawl on their stomachs to punish them. Do you believe it? "
The answer to "of course" is yes.
"So, do you know how snakes walked before this?"
The audience burst into laughter. Brian's face was livid and he shouted angrily, "Your honor, I am willing to answer all the questions of Mr. Yinghao in the legal field at once. I want the whole world to know that this Christian traitor is using the Tennessee court to shamelessly slander God. "
"I protest!" The hero of the legal circle shouted, "Christians with a little sense will not believe your stupid point of view."
The judge knocked on the board of the police station to calm the noise. Then we announced an adjournment and continued the trial the next day.
At noon the next day, it was the jury's turn to decide. The jurors gathered in the corner of the lawn and talked quietly for nine minutes. The judge announced that the defendant scopes was fined $65,438+000 and paid all trial expenses.
Some newspapers in the southern United States loudly cheered Brian's "victory". It's a pity that Brian himself was miserable and exhausted, and died in this small town the day after the verdict, to see his god.
This is a classic lawsuit in the history of American science and law-"the ape lawsuit".
Specific events:
From 65438 to 0859, Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species. By 1900, almost everyone believed that the earth had existed for millions of years.
However, in the 1920s, the rapid development of urbanization fundamentally changed the social structure of Europe and North America, and some people in the United States blamed the decline of the world on "evolution without God".
On March 23rd, 1925, Tennessee, USA, issued a decree prohibiting teaching "human beings evolved from lower animals" in class. The American Civil Liberties Union instigated scopes, a physics teacher in Tennessee, to break the law quickly, creating a historic event-the "ape lawsuit", which shocked the whole country and even the whole world.
This case was deliberately created.
At the end of 1924, the Tennessee legislature was debating the suggestion made by Rep. Butler that schools "should not teach any biblical teachings that deny that man was created by God, and it is illegal to say that preachers evolved from lower animals". American Secretary of State Brian published a book entitled "Is the Bible true? Hundreds of speeches were delivered to Tennessee lawmakers, including Butler, in two batches. According to public law, violators are regarded as misdemeanors and fined 100-500 USD.
At that time, the economy in Dayton, Tennessee was depressed, and the young Galeries Lafayette thought that some kind of public advertising effect could attract investors' attention. On May 4th, 1925, he read an article in Chattanooga Daily Times, saying that the American Civil Liberties Union was seeking a Tennessee teacher who was willing to test the law in court. "Our lawyers believe that a goodwill court trial can be arranged on the premise of ensuring that they will not lose their jobs."
On the same day, Galeries Lafayette found the board of directors of Ruile County United School. The next day, the "Dayton Advertising Effectiveness Committee" was established, and scopes was persuaded to act as a "catalyst" for emergency use. He is a football player, a basketball player and a hard ball player. He has also taught math, physics and chemistry. Scopes himself said, "I'm not sure if I have ever taught evolution."
The committee asked scopes to "reprimand" several student witnesses so that they could "definitely" prove that the teacher had taught evolution. Then, an arrest warrant was issued and Chattanooga News and other media were called to inform the American Civil Liberties Union. Dr. Nell, Dean of the University of Tennessee Law School, became scopes's full defense lawyer. A world-famous evolutionary trial case began.
The secretary of state fell into a trap.
1925 May 13 Secretary of State Brian issued a statement expressing his willingness to attend the trial free of charge.
1On July 2, 925, the defendant made relevant strategies in new york, sacrificing scopes's chance of being acquitted, so as to appeal to a higher court or even the Federal Supreme Court, hoping that this "monkey law" would be declared unconstitutional. The chief lawyer of the defendant is Dr. Nell, and the defense lawyer is a legal hero and others; The plaintiff is represented by Tennessee Attorney General Stewart, the defense lawyer is Brian and his son Brian Jr., and the judge is a devout Baptist, Lauston. These main characters who participated in the experiment have extraordinary celebrity advertising effects.
In order to focus the world's attention on the theory of evolution, the scopes trial reminds people that the theory of evolution is a theory that connects people with monkeys.
1925 On the afternoon of July 20th, most journalists went home because they couldn't stand the hot and boring expert testimony and the bleak prospect that there seemed to be no news highlights, thus missing the turning point and climax of the trial-Brian agreed to testify in court and take questions. Scopes himself wrote some latest news stories to fill the gaps left by the absent reporters.
The purpose is to humiliate the secretary of state, not win the case.
Brian believes that World War I was the direct result of German evolution education, and the general decline of American moral and ethical level was also attributed to the teaching of evolution. Brian also questioned evolution itself. He prepared a long speech to question the truth and sufficiency of the theory of evolution in detail, but was stopped by the heroes of the legal profession and Judge Lauston.
Summoning the opposing lawyer to testify was seriously irregular, so it took the defendant several days to summon Brian to testify in court. The purpose of legal heroes is to fool and even humiliate Brian, not to defend scopes or seek the truth.
During the trial, scopes had the opportunity to avoid conviction and criminal trial. But the legal hero said, "In order to save time, please ask the court to let the jury convict scopes." The legal hero's motion opened the door for the case to appeal to a higher court. 1927 65438+ 10 15, Tennessee High Court made a final judgment, that is, the Butler Act was constitutional and scopes was guilty.
After the verdict, the legal hero declared: "We have done our best here to repel a turbid current that breeds and spreads in the modern world, that is, to verify every fact in science with religious belief." Scopes, on the other hand, stressed that it was unfair to convict him, and he would, as always, fight to the end, adhering to the concept of academic freedom. According to the media, although the defendant lost the case, the theory of evolution was popularized, and the scopes trial was a classic case of Darwinism.
But the teaching level of evolution has actually declined. It was not until 1967- 1970 that Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi abolished anti-evolutionary laws.