Butler Act
E31047
The Butler Act was a Tennessee state law enacted in 1925 that prohibited the teaching of human evolution in public schools, becoming infamous as the focus of the Scopes "Monkey" Trial.
Statements (47)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Tennessee state law
ⓘ
anti-evolution law ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
public schools in Tennessee
ⓘ
public universities in Tennessee ⓘ |
| constitutionalIssue |
freedom of speech
ⓘ
separation of church and state ⓘ |
| controversy | conflict between modern science and religious fundamentalism ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| dateEnacted | 1925-03-21 ⓘ |
| dateRepealed | 1967-05-18 ⓘ |
| defendantInNotableTrial | John T. Scopes ⓘ |
| defenseAttorneyInNotableTrial | Clarence Darrow ⓘ |
| fineMaximumUSD | 500 ⓘ |
| fineMinimumUSD | 100 ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod | 1920s United States ⓘ |
| inspired | similar anti-evolution statutes in other U.S. states ⓘ |
| jurisdiction |
Tennessee
ⓘ
surface form:
State of Tennessee
|
| languageFocus | human evolution ⓘ |
| legacy |
catalyst for public debate on evolution in schools
ⓘ
symbol of legal opposition to teaching evolution ⓘ |
| legalDomain |
constitutional law
ⓘ
education law ⓘ |
| legalStatus | repealed ⓘ |
| legislativeBody | Tennessee General Assembly ⓘ |
| locationOfNotableTrial | Dayton, Tennessee ⓘ |
| mediaCoverage |
international
ⓘ
national ⓘ |
| namedAfter | John Washington Butler ⓘ |
| notableCase |
Scopes "Monkey" Trial
ⓘ
surface form:
Scopes Monkey Trial
State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes ⓘ |
| penalty | fine for teachers who violated the law ⓘ |
| prohibits |
teaching of human evolution in public schools
ⓘ
teaching that humans descended from a lower order of animals ⓘ |
| prosecutionAttorneyInNotableTrial | William Jennings Bryan ⓘ |
| region |
Southern United States
ⓘ
surface form:
American South
|
| relatedTo |
academic freedom
ⓘ
creation–evolution controversy ⓘ religion in public education ⓘ |
| repealedBy | Tennessee General Assembly ⓘ |
| sponsor | John Washington Butler ⓘ |
| state | Tennessee ⓘ |
| stateGovernorAtSigning |
Austin Peay State University
ⓘ
surface form:
Austin Peay
|
| subjectArea | biology education ⓘ |
| timeInForce | 1925–1967 ⓘ |
| trialYear | 1925 ⓘ |
| yearEnacted | 1925 ⓘ |
| yearRepealed | 1967 ⓘ |
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.