Part 3, Chapter 10 Distant Echoes Summary

Although fundamentalism did not die after the Scopes trial, the political landscape did shift, with Americans embracing the notions of individual liberty that the ACLU had advocated for during its early years. Schools boards and parents became more concerned about the inclusion of creation theories than about banning evolution theories.

The legend of the Scopes trial that developed during the middle twentieth century left many of the anti-evolution statutes vulnerable. By the 1960s, the Supreme Court began purging religious practices from school curriculums. The role of science also changed during this period. Fears over the cold war prompted Congress and the US government to give money to science programs and to developing new textbooks. The new textbooks caused teachers and others to question the old laws prohibiting the teaching of evolution theories.

Two lawsuits that sprung from...