Critical Thinking 21-1 #5

In the 1920's there was some struggle between the nation's traditional values and the new ways and beliefs that were being developed at the time. This could be seen in Prohibition and in debates about religion. Some events that could be seen as victories for tradition included the passage of the Volstead Act and the ruling of the Scopes trial. However, it is not true that these were genuine triumphs. The Volstead Act was passed to help prohibition. It created an agency that would enforce the prohibition of alcohol, finding illegal drinks and overseeing industries that used alcohol legally. The fact that this law was passed may have been a triumph for those who valued tradition, but the law itself failed, as there was not enough money or a large enough force to do the job. An example of a debate regarding religion was the Scopes trial. in which a man named John Scopes was arrested for teaching evolution to his students. This was illegal in Tennessee, where Scopes was, and many religious people believed in creationism, and evolution was contradictory to that belief. Scopes was eventually found guilty, but this was not a true victory either, because of the strong defense of Scopes and the fact that even William Jennings Bryan, the prosecutor. admitted that the bible could be interpreted in different ways. Over all, neither of these events showed genuine triumph for traditional ways, but instead showed that there was still a powerful argument for them, so they would die off even as new ways increased in popularity.