March 13, 1925 - The "Butler Bill" is Passed
John Washington Butler, 1925, Tennessee state representative. Public domain photograph. Source: Wikimedia Commons. Licensed as public domain in the United States (published before January 1, 1930).
On March 13, 1925, Tennessee enacted the Butler Act, legislation prohibiting public school teachers from denying the biblical account of creation by teaching human evolution. Introduced by State Representative John Washington Butler, the law reflected growing tension between modernist scientific theories and traditional Christian beliefs in early twentieth-century America.
The American Civil Liberties Union quickly sought a test case. In Dayton, Tennessee, high school teacher John T. Scopes agreed to teach evolution using a state-approved textbook, knowingly violating the statute. His arrest set the stage for what became the nationally publicized “Scopes Monkey Trial” in July 1925.
The trial featured prominent legal figures: William Jennings Bryan for the prosecution and Clarence Darrow for the defense. Though Scopes was convicted and fined (a verdict later overturned on technical grounds), the trial became a cultural flashpoint. It symbolized the broader struggle between fundamentalism and modernism within American Protestantism.
The Butler Act remained in effect until 1967, though later Supreme Court rulings would reshape the constitutional landscape regarding religion and public education. The events beginning on March 13, 1925, illustrate how debates over Scripture, science, and public schooling became defining features of twentieth-century American religious life.
