ch. 21 sct.1 C.T.#5

The passage of the Volstead Act and the ruling in the Scopes trial did not represent genuine triumphs for traditional values. Urban life was changing and moving away from traditional values in the 1920s, and the people were not very swayed by these attempts to preserve them (the values). Prohibition really didn't stop the drinking, but produced other negative affects, and the Scopes trial was looked down upon by many as they opened to "advancement" and new ideas in science.
Urban life was changing in the 1920s. Many immigrants in the cities did not think drinking and gambling, ect. "sinful" but acceptable social behavior. The city became a place of competition and change, where people argued openly about social and science topics. Religion did not prevail in the sense that not as many people went to church, and many people started drinking at bars, ect. (p.641). The old traditional values no longer had such an impact on the urban life style.
Prohibition did slightly lower the number of drunks and the general amount of drinking, but it certainly didn't stop it, and prohibition produced many negative affects. People started comitting "organized" crimes, bootlegging alcohol and other illegal activities. People figured out how to distill alcohol themselves, and some started making their own. Disobeying the law became a sport that almost eveyone played. The Volstead Act established a Prohibition bureau, but it was underfunded. The underpayed policemen and federal agents could not do a very good job at enforcing the law, so drinking continued all over the place.
The legacy of the Scopes trial did not leave a very good impression on many people. Many people in urban areas were opening up to new scientific ideas, and many of them probably did not like the law forbidding those teachings, and probably thought that trial ridiculous. I highly doubt people would actually continue to follow that law, especially with the ACLU to protect them.