Final answer:
H. L. Mencken supported the defense in the Scopes Monkey Trial due to his advocacy for teaching evolution and his belief in secularism and intellectual freedom. His writings revealed his disdain for the anti-evolution laws and reflected the cultural clash of the 1920s between traditional beliefs and modern science.
Step-by-step explanation:
In regard to the Scopes "Monkey Trial," H. L. Mencken supported the defense side due to his advocacy for teaching evolution. Mencken, a prominent journalist, was known for his satirical criticism of society's ills and covered the trial for Baltimore's The Evening Sun with a sharp eye.
He was particularly critical of the prosecution, led by William Jennings Bryan, and the anti-evolution laws, which he saw as emblematic of wider cultural struggles between fundamentalist and modernist viewpoints. Mencken's writings make it clear that he viewed the trial as a farce and the law it supported as an affront to intellectual freedom and scientific understanding.
The Scopes Monkey Trial indeed became symbolic of the culture war of the 1920s, where John Scopes, a high school teacher, was charged for violating Tennessee's Butler Act that banned the teaching of evolution. This was a point of conflict between conservative Christian fundamentalists and more secular, liberal-minded individuals. Mencken's support lay with Scopes and the defense, represented by the acclaimed lawyer Clarence Darrow, who fought to defend academic freedom and the teaching of evolution in schools.
Mencken's disdain for the prosecution and his support for Darrow and Scopes was rooted in his belief in the importance of secularism, freedom of thought, and evolution as a scientific truth. His writings during the trial underscored the importance he placed on these issues, reflecting a broader societal struggle between tradition and modernity.