Religion vs. Science in the Scopes Monkey Trial The stage was set in Dayton, Tennessee. The main actor of this show was a twenty-five year old science teacher named John T. Scopes. Scopes was under the direction of moving America forward. The billboard said The Scopes "Monkey" Trial. In 1925 John T. Scopes was encouraged to challenge the Butler Act. This law was passed by a small town in Dayton, Tennessee, to prohibit teaching contrary to what is written in the Bible. By teaching from a developmental text, Scopes broke the law and attracted national media attention. The media focus on the Scopes trial effectively presented the contrasting ideas of a religious city and an evolving country. The city of Dayton, Tennessee was both religious and stable. People in this town were seen holding signs marked with the command to “Read your Bible” (Ginger 93). The residents here had adopted the teachings of the Bible to feel secure in a time of change. “In rural areas, particularly in the South and Midwest, Americans turned to faith for comfort and stability” (Scopes 12). The city would keep what it knew. The people of Dayton had no desire to travel forward into the Roaring Twenties. William Jennings Bryan was the chief defender of the Butler Law and also headed the prosecution. Bryan was determined to defend every word of the Bible as literally true. In the deepest sense, he had to defend it; he needed reassurance and certainty and had learned from childhood to rely on the Bible as a source of reassurance and certainty. (Ginger 41). Bryan would be the leader of a people who clung to religion and the past. In contrast to this small town were the advanced visions of America. The 1920s continued to roar towards modernism. “Technological discoveries, rising material wealth, and the beginning of an empire seemingly heralded the upward march of civilization, with America at the forefront” (Dumenil 6). In all directions it was clear that America was moving forward. Transportation was a prime example of this progress. The innovator Henry Ford presented his “Ford Miracle” to the public (Dumenil 6). Economies and social values ​​also began to advance. “Get-rich-quick schemes and fads…helped create a tone of feverish frivolity” (Dumenil 7). People began to lead busy lives with the desire to get rich, quickly.