The real deal with the "Monkey Trial"

In the year 1925, a trial against the teaching of evolution took place in Dayton, Tennessee. Here, a young man by the name of John Scopes was charged for teaching evolution to his students when only Christianity and Biblical knowledge was to be taught. After a hard case, Scopes was found guilty as charged, but left with no punishment. This is what the town of Dayton wanted the world to think happened anyways.
The truth of the matter is that Dayton simply wanted publicity. They knew if they could bring a big trial such as this into their town, they would become a popular metropolis. Not only would Dayton become a host to thousands of visitors, but it would also earn money from those visitors to put towards the enhancement of the community. Apparently, the American Civil Liberties Union had encouraged somebody to challenge the law, nobody seems to know their reasoning. Dayton found this a perfect idea to advertise their town so they found a willing candidate to defy the Liberties Union. When they found an eager man to do the job, he was hired on the spot. John Scopes, a math teacher and athletic coach had temporarily substituted a biology class in which the course’s reading book had had a small section containing pieces of evolution. Though Scopes knew little about evolution, he stepped up to the plate and took the job.
One can readily say that this trial was a “show trial.” It appeared that the outcome had little significance and that publicity was its real goal. Nobody could care less as to whether Scopes was guilty or innocent. As long as Dayton was put on the map, they would be happy. As Carol Iannone said in her article entitled, “The Truth About Inherit the Wind,” “Several Dayton citizens, hoping the publicity would benefit their town, approached Scopes as a possible candidate… He did not remember teaching evolution, but he had used the standard textbook, Hunter’s Civic Biology, which contained a short section on the subject.” Iannone later stated that William Jennings Bryan, Scopes worthy opponent, “may even have understood the evolutionary doctrine better than his adversaries, or at least had a better idea of what was really at stake.”
“Inherit the Wind,” a movie/play dramatization of the Scopes trial portrays the case as a great ordeal that had the whole town enraged. It depicted Scopes as a strong defender of evolution who truly believed in what he fought against. The production illustrated the vehemence of the town against the evident evolutionist, yet, at the same time tried to promote evolution as true. “Inherit the Wind” seemed to downplay Christianity and fervent Christians while giving heroism to the evolutionist. The worldview of the film appeared to be that while Christians may be convincing arguers, evolution and the freedom to think is far more important. Truly, the film was based on falsehoods and seemed rather to portray the exact opposite of what really happened.