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Jonestown Massacre Research Paper

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A little more than 35 years ago, a man named Jim Jones shocked the world when he led almost 1,000 of his followers in an act of mass suicide; amongst those dead were more than 270 children1. On November 18, 1978, Jones and his followers drank Kool-Aid laced with cyanide in what he had presented to them as a peaceful escape to injustices of this world. The Jonestown Massacre was an incredible tragedy that sent waves through the whole world. Though the event was tragic, scholars have used our knowledge of what happened in order to deepen our understanding of cults, religions, and how both can influence people’s decisions.
In the Late 1950’s, America was in the beginnings of an important Cultural revolution. The Civil Rights movement as a whole was still very new and the country had just recently been desegregated. As such, …show more content…

However, the first amendment makes it difficult to pass anti-cult legislation in America. Legislation to allow parents to hospitalize their adult children, as well as other laws of the sort were proposed and subsequently shot down. Though anti-cult legislation was and still is needed, it is hard to pass laws of this type that do not interfere with the American Public’s freedoms or constitutional rights 5.
Another result of the Jonestown Massacres was that the American public’s knowledge about cults was raised exponentially. The news was all over the media, constantly featured on television as well as seen on the cover of various magazines. About a month after the events in Guyana, in December 1978, a Gallup poll found that 98 percent of the United States population had heard or read about the People’s Temple, Jim Jones, and the Jonestown Massacre 5. The only other notable event to match this level of awareness amongst the public was the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor during World War I

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