Fundamentalism vs. Modernism in the 1920s

• Fundamentalism - a movement or attitude stressing strict and literal adherence to a set of basic principles

- Conservative ideology

• Modernism - a movement toward modifying traditional beliefs in accordance with modern ideas

- Liberal ideology

What is fundamentalism & modernism?

• The conflict of evolution vs. creationism was the most prominent instance of fundamentalism vs. modernism in the 1920s
• Evolutionists believed in Charles Darwin's Theory of Evolution: all living beings descended from a common ancestor
• Creationists believed in Divine Creation: God created all living things in a single event
• Evolutionists usually hailed from more liberal, urban areas
• Creationists came from the more conservative, rural America
• This difference in ideology created a cultural and social rift between regions

Evolution vs. Creationism

• Throughout the 1920s, Tennessee and other southern states passed statutes outlawing the teaching of evolution (Butler Act)
• In 1925, biology teacher John Scopes broke this law in order to challenge it in court
• The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) provided legal assistance to Scopes since it promised to help anyone who challenged the Butler Act
• The ensuing case was held to determine whether or not Scopes was guilty of violating the law
• Media coverage was outstanding and highly informative
• Scopes ended up being convicted, but a year later the Tennessee Supreme Court dismissed the case altogether
• The trial became the defining event of the 1920s when it came to the debate between modernists and fundamentalists
• Although neither side had gained much ground by the end of the case, the evolutionist-creationist debate had become a hot topic throughout America

Scopes Monkey Trial

Political Effects

Due to the great effects that the changes in religious belief had on society, American politics were also greatly affected. One major impact was a result of the Scopes Monkey Trial. After the trial many politicians sided with either modernists or fundamentalists, attempted to reach out to those voters on their side, and tried to bring over voters of the opposing side. Most politicians from the West and South sided with fundamentalists while people from the Northeast sided mainly with modernists. This created another great rift between the American people and caused politics to become more religiously motivated. Politicans who supported fundamentalism usually made greater gains since they promised to change the verdict of the Scopes Monkey Trial, while modernists said they would push for religion to be completely removed from most schools.

Effects on Politics

Societal Effects

Effects on Society

Modernism is an idea that has the goal of revising Christian teaching systems to include the theory of evolution and other forms of modern science. This idea was supported mainly by Protestants in the northern United States. Fundamentalism is the belief of preserving the Christian teaching system and being more strict against teaching things that contradict the Bible. Southern schools banned most teachings of evolution altogether which caused the Scopes Monkey Trial: a Supreme Court case that fought for the right to teach evolution in schools that so closely followed the Bible. The Supreme Court ruled it as a restriction on belief and allowed it to be taught in schools across America. This caused a great social impact as more people were becoming secular and not as religious due to the new teachings that contradicted the Bible. This caused the great "schism" of the 1920s and 1930s which sparked many religious debates around the country. This created a great rift between people in the Northeast, Southeast, and West. While most people followed modernism, however, a sizable population of Americans stuck with fundamentalism. This, of course, brought changes to the everyday lives of many Americans and affected almost every other aspect of the country.

Primary Sources:

Tripler's Report on Sanitation in the Army of the Potomac EHISTORY, ehistory.osu.edu/sites/ehistory.osu.edu/files/mmh/clash/Scopes/IndexImages/htmlpages/evolutiondiagram.htm.

Tripler's Report on Sanitation in the Army of the Potomac EHISTORY, ehistory.osu.edu/sites/ehistory.osu.edu/files/mmh/clash/Scopes/IndexImages/htmlpages/monkies.htm.

http://www.artandpoliticsnow.com/modernism-in-the-1920s/

http://americainclass.org/sources/becomingmodern/modernity/text4/colcommentarymodernfaith.pdf

Secondary Sources:

Neumeyer, Elizabeth, et al. Out of Many: a History of the American People: Study Guide. Prentice Hall, 1999.

User, Super. “State v. John Scopes (‘The Monkey Trial’): An Account.” Famous Trials, famous-trials.com/scopesmonkey/2127-home.

The First Great Awakening, Divining America, TeacherServe®, National Humanities Center, nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/twenty/tkeyinfo/tscopes.htm.

“Media Significance - Influence of Scopes Trial of 1925.” Google Sites, sites.google.com/site/influenceofscopestrialof1925/change-the-banner.

Works Cited