AN ACT prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof
The law was challenged later that year in a famous trial in Dayton, Tennessee called the Scopes Trial which included a raucous confrontation between prosecution attorney and fundamentalist religious leader, William Jennings Bryan, and noted defense attorney and religious agnostic, Clarence Darrow. It was repealed in 1967.
The law, "An act prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities, and all other public schools of Tennessee, which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State, and to provide penalties for the violations thereof" (Tenn. HB 185, 1925) specifically provided:
That it shall be 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.[1]
It additionally outlined that an offending teacher would be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined between $100 and $500 for each offense.
By the terms of the statute, it could be argued, it was not illegal to teach evolution in respect to non-human creatures, such as that apes descended from protozoa or to teach the mechanisms of variation and natural selection. The bill also did not touch on, or restrict the teaching of prevailing scientific theories of geology or the age of the Earth. It did not even require that the Genesis story be taught, but prohibited solely the teaching that man evolved, or any other theory denying that man was created byGod as recorded in Genesis. However the author of the law, a Tennessee farmer and member of the Tennessee House of Representatives John Washington Butler, specifically intended that it would prohibit the teaching of evolution. He later was reported to have said "No, I didn't know anything about evolution when I introduced it. I'd read in the papers that boys and girls were coming home from school and telling their fathers and mothers that the Bible was all nonsense." After reading copies of William Jennings Bryan's lecture "Is the Bible True?" as well as Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man,[2] Butler decided the teaching of evolution was dangerous.
Challengesedit
The law was challenged by the ACLU in the famed Scopes Trial, in which John Scopes, a high school science teacher who agreed to be paid on a charge of having taught evolution, and was nominally served a warrant on May 5, 1925. Scopes was indicted on May 25 and ultimately convicted; on appeal the Tennessee Supreme Court found the law to be constitutional under the Tennessee State Constitution, because:
We are not able to see how the prohibition of teaching the theory that man has descended from a lower order of animals gives preference to any religious establishment or mode of worship. So far as we know, there is no religious establishment or organized body that has in its creed or confession of faith any article denying or affirming such a theory. — Scopes v. State 289 S.W. 363, 367 (Tenn. 1927)
Despite this decision, the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the conviction on a technicality (that the jury should have fixed the amount of the fine), and the case was not retried. During the trial, Butler told reporters: "I never had any idea my bill would make a fuss. I just thought it would become a law, and that everybody would abide by it and that we wouldn't hear any more of evolution in Tennessee."[3]
The law remained on the books until 1967, when teacher Gary L. Scott of Jacksboro, Tennessee, who had been dismissed for violation of the act, sued for reinstatement, citing his First Amendment right to free speech. Although his termination was rescinded, Scott continued his fight with a class action lawsuit in the Nashville Federal District Court, seeking a permanent injunction against enforcement of that law. Within three days of his filing suit, a bill for repeal of the Butler Act had passed both houses of the Tennessee legislature and was signed into law May 18 by Governor Buford Ellington.[4]
^Hariman, Robert. Popular Trials : Rhetoric, Mass Media, and the Law. Tuscaloosa, University Of Alabama Press, 1993, p. 57.
^Randy Moore, Evolution in the Courtroom: A Reference Guide ABC-Clio Inc., 2001. pp. 58–59[ISBN missing]
"Author of the Law Surprised by Fuss", The New York Times (18 July 1925), p. 1.
February 15, 2024
butler, united, kingdom, butler, education, education, 1944, 1925, tennessee, prohibiting, public, school, teachers, from, denying, book, genesis, account, mankind, origin, also, prevented, teaching, evolution, from, what, referred, lower, orders, animals, pla. For the United Kingdom Butler Education Act see Education Act 1944 The Butler Act was a 1925 Tennessee law prohibiting public school teachers from denying the book of Genesis account of mankind s origin The law also prevented the teaching of the evolution of man from what it referred to as lower orders of animals in place of the Biblical account The law was introduced by Tennessee House of Representatives member John Washington Butler from whom the law got its name It was enacted as Tennessee Code Annotated Title 49 Education Section 1922 having been signed into law by Tennessee governor Austin Peay Butler ActTennessee General AssemblyLong title AN ACT prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities and all other public schools of Tennessee which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State and to provide penalties for the violations thereofPassed byTennessee House of RepresentativesPassed byTennessee SenateSigned byGovernor Austin PeaySignedMarch 21 1925RepealedSeptember 1 1967Legislative historyFirst chamber Tennessee House of RepresentativesBill citationHouse Bill No 185Introduced byJohn Washington ButlerIntroducedJanuary 21 1925Committee responsibleHouse Committee on EducationPassedJanuary 28 1925Voting summary71 voted for5 voted againstSecond chamber Tennessee SenateCommittee responsibleSenate Judiciary CommitteePassedMarch 13 1925Voting summary24 voted for6 voted againstRepealed byChapter No 237 House Bill No 48Status RepealedThe law was challenged later that year in a famous trial in Dayton Tennessee called the Scopes Trial which included a raucous confrontation between prosecution attorney and fundamentalist religious leader William Jennings Bryan and noted defense attorney and religious agnostic Clarence Darrow It was repealed in 1967 Contents 1 Provisions of the law 2 Challenges 3 See also 4 ReferencesProvisions of the law editThe law An act prohibiting the teaching of the Evolution Theory in all the Universities and all other public schools of Tennessee which are supported in whole or in part by the public school funds of the State and to provide penalties for the violations thereof Tenn HB 185 1925 specifically provided That it shall be 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 1 It additionally outlined that an offending teacher would be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined between 100 and 500 for each offense By the terms of the statute it could be argued it was not illegal to teach evolution in respect to non human creatures such as that apes descended from protozoa or to teach the mechanisms of variation and natural selection The bill also did not touch on or restrict the teaching of prevailing scientific theories of geology or the age of the Earth It did not even require that the Genesis story be taught but prohibited solely the teaching that man evolved or any other theory denying that man was created by God as recorded in Genesis However the author of the law a Tennessee farmer and member of the Tennessee House of Representatives John Washington Butler specifically intended that it would prohibit the teaching of evolution He later was reported to have said No I didn t know anything about evolution when I introduced it I d read in the papers that boys and girls were coming home from school and telling their fathers and mothers that the Bible was all nonsense After reading copies of William Jennings Bryan s lecture Is the Bible True as well as Charles Darwin s The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man 2 Butler decided the teaching of evolution was dangerous Challenges editThe law was challenged by the ACLU in the famed Scopes Trial in which John Scopes a high school science teacher who agreed to be paid on a charge of having taught evolution and was nominally served a warrant on May 5 1925 Scopes was indicted on May 25 and ultimately convicted on appeal the Tennessee Supreme Court found the law to be constitutional under the Tennessee State Constitution because We are not able to see how the prohibition of teaching the theory that man has descended from a lower order of animals gives preference to any religious establishment or mode of worship So far as we know there is no religious establishment or organized body that has in its creed or confession of faith any article denying or affirming such a theory Scopes v State 289 S W 363 367 Tenn 1927 Despite this decision the Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the conviction on a technicality that the jury should have fixed the amount of the fine and the case was not retried During the trial Butler told reporters I never had any idea my bill would make a fuss I just thought it would become a law and that everybody would abide by it and that we wouldn t hear any more of evolution in Tennessee 3 The law remained on the books until 1967 when teacher Gary L Scott of Jacksboro Tennessee who had been dismissed for violation of the act sued for reinstatement citing his First Amendment right to free speech Although his termination was rescinded Scott continued his fight with a class action lawsuit in the Nashville Federal District Court seeking a permanent injunction against enforcement of that law Within three days of his filing suit a bill for repeal of the Butler Act had passed both houses of the Tennessee legislature and was signed into law May 18 by Governor Buford Ellington 4 See also editMonkey Town Creation and evolution in public education Inherit the WindReferences edit Full text of the Butler Act and the bill that repealed it Archived from the original on 2009 05 20 Retrieved 2005 02 19 Darwin Online The Descent of Man Hariman Robert Popular Trials Rhetoric Mass Media and the Law Tuscaloosa University Of Alabama Press 1993 p 57 Randy Moore Evolution in the Courtroom A Reference Guide ABC Clio Inc 2001 pp 58 59 ISBN missing Author of the Law Surprised by Fuss The New York Times 18 July 1925 p 1 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Butler Act amp oldid 1170308252, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
