Tennessee Act Prohibiting the Teaching of Evolution

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The Tennessee law is brief and relatively simple. Section 1 states that it is against the law for universities, “Normals,” and public schools that receive state funding “to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals”—that is, from apes or monkeys. Normals were colleges created to train schoolteachers; the term comes from the schools' mandate to teach standards, or “norms.” Anyone who violates the law is guilty of a misdemeanor and can be fined no less than $100 and up to $500 for each offense. The bill was signed by Tennessee governor Austin Peay. Ironically, Peay devoted his governorship to strengthening education in Tennessee and came to regret having signed the bill into law.