During his five year voyage on the HMS Beagle, Darwin collected specimens and observed plants and animals. Some of his observations:

• snakes with rudimentary hind limbs
• snakes that had no rattle, but shook their tails like rattlesnakes
• penguins use wings to paddle through water instead of fly
• a variety of species on Galapagos islands that were like no other species on the mainland
• a vast amount of finches existed on the island, all seemed similar except for variations in eating habits and beak structure

 

Darwin knew what the religious world would think of him when his theory became public knowledge. Even with his friends telling him to publish, he was still reluctant. The thing that finally convinced him was the work of Alfred Russell Wallace. Wallace was about to publish a theory very similar to Darwin's. Darwin had devoted his life to this work and did not want Wallace to get credit that rightfully belong to him.

Alfred Russell Wallace

The fatal question: "Mr. Darwin, does your new theory apply to EVERY living thing?"

This was the question that kept him from publishing for years. When Darwin was asked the question, he knew he was trapped. If there were ANY exceptions to his theory, it would not be scientifically acceptable. He could not say that it didn't apply to man, that would be an exception. His only answer HAD to be "yes". As soon as he said it, the argument began - and is continuing today.

Darwin didn't say "man evolved from monkey", he only answered "yes" to the fatal question.

July 10-25, 1925
Scopes Monkey Trial

There was Tennessee law forbidding the teaching of evolution and many disagreed with this. Clarence Darrow a very famous and successful lawyer known for defending underdogs, volunteered for this case, defending the right to teach evolution. He was up against William Jennings Bryan another very well known conservative lawyer.

Darrow's defense plan was to present a series of scientists and experts, but the prosecution was not about to allow Darrow to use the courtroom and the national stage to spread evolutionist theories. The conservatives said that since the theory of evolution violated the story of creation as told in the Bible, anything the experts might say about birds and bugs would be immaterial, irrelevant, and incompetent.

Scopes was a teacher fired for teaching evolution in a Tennessee classroom. He was also on trial for breaking state law. After eight minutes of deliberation, the jury returned with a verdict of guilty and the judge ordered Scopes to pay a fine of $100, the minimum the law allowed. In his last words to the court, Scopes said, "Your Honor, I feel that I have been convicted of violating an unjust statute. I will continue in the future ... to oppose this law in any way I can. Any other action would be in violation of my idea of academic freedom."

An even more recent "trial" related to the argument was the "Dover trial" in 2005. In, Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District a group of parents of high-school students challenged a public school district requirement for teachers to present intelligent design in biology classes as an alternative "explanation of the origin of life".

U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III ruled that intelligent design is not science, that it "cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents", and concluded that the school district's promotion of it therefore violated the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.