Final answer:
John T. Scopes was tried in 1925 for teaching evolution, in violation of the Butler Act. The trial, backed by the ACLU and showcasing a clash between science and religion, ended in Scopes's conviction but was symbolic of changing American culture.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Scopes Monkey Trial was a significant legal case in 1925, where John T. Scopes, a high school science teacher in Dayton, Tennessee, was accused of the crime of teaching evolution, in defiance of the Butler Act. This act prohibited the teaching of any theory that contradicted the biblical story of Creationism. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) took up Scopes's defense to challenge the law as an infringement on free speech.
William Jennings Bryan, representing the prosecution, was a fundamentalist who opposed the teaching of evolution. Scopes was defended by Clarence Darrow, an agnostic lawyer who argued that civilization itself was on trial, not just Scopes. Although Scopes was found guilty and fined $100, the trial highlighted the deep cultural divide of the era, and historians often reference it in discussions about the conflict between science and religion in American society.
The trial was not only about the legitimacy of a particular scientific theory but also represented the ongoing culture wars of the time between traditionalists and modernists. The case was later overturned on a technicality, but Bryan's defeat during the trial, followed by his death shortly after, symbolized the fading influence of old-time religion on modern American life.