APPARTS Primary Source Analysis
Name: Eleonore Fisher
Topic: Scopes Trial
Source: William Jennings Bryan’s Last Speech: His Unread Closing Statements in the Scopes Trial
Author: Who created the source? What’s his/her point of view?
· William Jennings Bryan, chief prosecutor in the Scopes Trial, wrote this speech
· It was planned to be his closing argument, but he never gave it
· Bryan had run for president three times and was a well known liberal politician
· Bryan was of the opinion that evolution should not be taught in schools, because Darwin’s theory contradicted the Bible’s idea of brotherly love
Place and Time: When and where was the source originally created?
· Bryan wrote this speech in 1925 as his closing argument for the Scopes Trial, which took place in Dayton, TN, but was never presented to the jury
· Bryan’s Last Speech was published after the trial (and Bryan’s death; he died shortly after the trial) to raise public interest in the trial
Prior Knowledge: What do you already know that would further your understanding of this source.
· The Scopes Trial debated whether or not evolution should be taught in schools
o John Scopes was a science teacher from Kentucky who had just taught his first year in Dayton, TN
o A law was passed in TN making it illegal to teach evolution in schools, and the American Civil Liberties Union (who did not agree with this law) asked Scopes to stand trial so that the case might proceed to a higher court and eventually change the Tennessee law
· The defense wanted a guilty verdict from the jury so they could continue to a higher court and change Tennessee law, so Bryan’s speech was not heard
· Bryan was a liberal democrat involved in politics, and much of the nation was shocked when it discovered that Bryan was extremely conservative when it came to religion
· Fundamentalism was a large movement during the 1920s and an important part of the Scopes trial; it created a rift between the those who generally supported prohibition and opposed women’s suffrage (fundamentalists), and those generally against prohibition and for women’s suffrage (modernists)
o By and large, fundamentalists were against the teaching of evolution in schools
· Bryan believed that “survival of the fittest” went against the Bible’s preaching of loving your neighbor; he saw this issue as the strong overtaking the weak; in this context we see than Bryan was not completely against Darwin’s theory, just “survival of the fittest”
· This was the first U.S. trial to be broadcasted over the radio; the media gave this trial a lot of attention and generally preferred the defense
Audience: For whom was the source created?
· This source was intended for the ears of the jury, and Bryan probably recognized that all the viewers and listeners of the trial would hear it as well; the actual source was the American public
Reason: Why was the source created at the time it was produced?
· This source was created so that the jury of the Scopes Trial would find it unlawful to teach evolution in schools; it was published to raise the public’s interest in the trial
The Main Idea: What is the source conveying?
This source conveys Bryan’s ideas that science, while helpful to the world, can sometimes overstep its boundaries and become harmful. Bryan cites the Bible as a higher power than science, noting that “science does not teach brotherly love”. Bryan portrays the trial as an “attack upon the Christian religion”, and implores the jury to find Scopes guilty, saying Christians around the world were waiting to know if Scopes was found guilty. In addition, Bryan believed that teaching Darwin’s survival of the fittest encouraged the belief in children at a young age. He thought impressing the idea that those who are not strong will perish would encourage violence and the idea that some are better than others, and thought that morality was too important to be overridden by science.
Significance: Why is this source important?
This source is important because it highlights one side of an extremely controversial case in United States history. This source shows how profoundly William Jennings Bryan believed in his side of the argument, and how opposed others were against it. This source shows how much the U.S.’s perception of Christianity was changing, and how some were beginning to favor science over religion, while others stuck to religion and rejected science. World War I is an especially important part of the background for this source because survival of the fittest was a base of the warfare used in this war, most notable the use of new weaponry and submarines—the side with more brains and brawn would win. This shows how much change the United States was going through in this time period—religion and science, as well as other clashing issues, were assigned new roles in American education, government, and lifestyle—and this source displays how people like Bryan were strongly against this new phase in American history. They preferred America’s older beliefs regarding religion vs. science, as well as morality vs. survival of the fittest.
Works Cited
Excerpts from Bryan, William Jennings. Bryan's Last Speech: Undelivered Speech to the Jury in the Scopes
Trial. Oklahoma City: Sunlight Publishing Society, 1925. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/monkeytrial/
filmmore/ps_bryan.html.