preview

Jonestown Massacre Research Paper

Decent Essays

The worst mass murder suicide was the Jonestown Massacre which happened on November 18th, 1978. Have you ever head the saying “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid?” this originates for the Jonestown Massacre, which killed over 900 members of the Peoples Temple. James Jones made a concoction of a powered drink, like Kool-Aid mixed laced with cyanide and prescription drugs. James Jones used psychological manipulation instead of physical force with the members of Peoples Temple. To be able to understand the thoughts behind James Jones leadership over his group of followers, you need to understand the story of Peoples Temple from the very beginning. The Peoples Temple was located in Indianapolis and were known as a social activist, they opened orphanages, …show more content…

He worked on breaking down connections between Temple members, he rearranged marriages, and insisted on celibacy. Jones was deviant when it came to have sexual relations with men and women. The first public challenge to Jones’ leadership of the Temple came in 1972 from the media, which then increased his paranoia that his followers would turn against him. Jones went to greater lengths after being challenged by the media to declare his control by constantly testing his followers. He would organize “white nights”, which required his followers to drink a red liquid which may have contained poison, then Jones would see how many of his followers wouldn’t hesitate to drink the red liquid. Jones was still paranoid and made the decision to move Peoples Temple to Guyana and start a community called Jonestown. In the last several months of Peoples Temple before the massacre Congressmen Ryan, his aid, and a few others made a trip to Jonestown. Their first impression of the community was positive, until they received a couple notes saying, “help us get out of Jonestown”. At that time Jones’ paranoia increased, he believed that all of his followers we going to leave with the

Get Access