Chapter 21, section 1 critical thinking #5

Do you think the passage of the Volstead Act and the ruling in the Scopes trial represented genuine triumphs for traditional values? Think About:
• changes in urban life in the 1920s
• the effects of Prohibition
• the legacy of the Scopes trial
I do not think that the Volstead Act and the ruling in the Scopes trial were genuine triumphs for traditional values. They ended up decreasing and not helping traditional values hold their importance. In the 1920 life changes dramatically. City life became very popular, but it was a big switch from small towns where everybody knew everybody to fast strange cities. Life became faster, and less laid back. Things like the night life started, Alcohol now became used in social scenes in which they were not used in small towns along with things like gambling and casual dating. Then came the Prohibition of alcohol. At first drinking and crime did decrease. However people started sneaking in alcohol through bootleggers and other methods. Gangsters started to come into play and people were murdered. The law for prohibition got barley any respect, which led to people starting to disrespect the law even more. When the Volstead Act was passed in order to help get rid of the illegal sale of alcohol there was no funding for the Prohibition Bureau to be able to do anything. When a teacher, Scopes, read a line from the book Civic Biology he was tried for breaking a law that made it illegal to teach evolution in the state of Tennessee. He was tried and the whole nation became interested in his case. He was found guilty and charged a fine of $100. However even though the side that was trying to keep traditional values alive the case raised questions about evolution and religion, it made people more aware and ended up hurting traditional values than helping.