Background Information

Your task here is to investigate what occurred in the Scopes Monkey Trial. You may have studied this court case and the issues involved in your history class, so much of this may be a review. Nevertheless, you may encounter some new information when you visit the following sites.

Basic information

Scopes Trial Home Page - UMKC School of Law

The Scopes Monkey Trial

Questions to Answer

Open Microsoft Word, and copy these questions into a new document. When you find the answers, copy and paste those answers under the questions.

1. What was the Scopes Monkey Trial about?

2. What were the key issues?

3. Where was the court case held? When?

4. What brought about the trial?

5. What did the Butler Act state?

6. Why did some citizens in this town want the trial to take place in their town?

7. Who were the three key players in the trial?

8. What role did John Scopes take? Did he really do what he was accused of doing?

9. The two attorneys had differing ideas about what exactly was on trial, what did each attorney think was on trial?

10. At the beginning of the case, the crowd sided with which attorney?

11.Tell some about the witnesses each side had.

12.How did Darrow lessen the integrity of Bryan?

13.Was Scopes found guilty? If so, what was the punishment?

14.Who was the most well-known reporter to cover this story?

15.What, ultimately, happened to the law that was challenged?