Hello Friends, let’s see the story of the Jonestown Massacre in detail in this part.
On 18th November, the voice on the megaphone was Jim Jones. In 1978, there was a mass suicide in Jonestown but this began in 1931 When Jim Jones was born. He didn’t have his parents around him to shower their love. James Warren Jones was influenced by churches since childhood. Jonestown Massacre He believed in pentecostalism. Which is a protestant form of Christianity. After graduating from Butler University, In the 10s and 60s, he gained the label of a churchman. Curing any sickness by using psychic powers or telling someone’s future, he was becoming very famous for all these things.
in 1955, he established a pentecostal church named ‘ Wings of Deliverance.’ People were going to remember by the name ” People’s Temple” going forward. He was known to promote socialism and his congregation was racially integrated. Which was considered to be a very progressive initiative at that time. During the 1960s, Jim Jones started getting visions of nuclear war because of which the whole world will be destroyed. Esquire Magazine published an article at the same time which stated the 9 safe places in case of a nuclear catastrophe, one of them being California. This is why Jim Jones decided to relocate ” People’s Temple” there.
By the 1970s, the headquarters were already established in San Francisco. After going there, Jim Jones started getting involved in charitable and political activities. Because of this, he was able to build a good connection with the politicians out there. He criticized traditional Christianity and started promoting communism. And just as his followers started increasing, he got the ego of his power Jonestown Massacre in a few days, this started spreading that, All the members of the people’s Temple, Jones was diverting all their incomes to himself and looting and abusing them slowly this news started increasing a lot and his whole image was ruined in front of the media.
After seeing all this, he decided that staying in California is not good for him and that is why he went to Guyana in 1974. He decided on establishing an agricultural commune with all his followers in Guyana. People believed him and wanted to live a peaceful life. For Jim Jones, a ‘Peaceful’ life meant staying away from the US government’s oppression and media scrutiny. 500 members had already started working on making that jungle a settlement. 1000s of Jones’ followers were going to migrate and come to Guyana.
Because of this, the Guyanese government was told that all these immigrants are very skilled and they can become an asset to Guyana. In 1974, the Guyanese Government permitted of bring duty-free things to the temple, and because of this, starting from arms and ammunition to drugs, everything was brought there. As Britannica likes to state, many humanitarian activities were being done in Jonestown but Jim Jones’ behavior regarding his followers, was becoming very brutal and inhuman. Jonestown Massacre When Jones got to know about Marshall Kilduff’s article, where the author had stated that he used to abuse the former members of the commune, that day Jones decided that he will now go to Guyana, where even his numerous followers followed him which lead to mess migration in Guyana which considered mostly African-American people.
After Jones came to Jonestown, the atmosphere there changed, People’s passports were snatched and they were made to sign documents. All are being for the residents of Jonestown can’t even think of leaving. African-American members were told that if they would leave Jonestown and go anywhere, then they’ll be stuck in the concentration camps of the evil US government. Jonestown was built on not-so-fertile land because of which only the agricultural produce there couldn’t fill people’s stomachs.
There was also a nursery in Jonestown where 33 children were born. Marceline Jones was in charge of the upbringing of these kids, in her so-called socialist paradise. If a mistake was made by someone there then as a punishment they were put in a 6*4*3 feet box and locked. Whoever wanted to escape Jonestown and run, they were intoxicated with different drugs. Grace and Tin Stoen were Jones’ followers. In 1972, they gave birth to their child John. People had to sign an affidavit in which they declared that James was the father of their children, Just like that, this couple did the same.
But a year after these two left the church to take John under their custody, filed a case in the Georgetown court, at that time Jones denied giving them John. And because of this, the power of Jones in Jonestown could be affected. Jones did a fake sniper attack on him and took away guns and machetes from residents they were given the orders of protecting Jonestown. At the same time, addressing the safety of Jonestown, Jones had started warning the members. He had ordered that if Jonestown is in danger then we have 4 options.
1. Run away to the soviet Union.
2. Stay in Jonestown and fight back.
3. Run to the jungle.
4. Revolutionary suicide.
On these rehearsal nights, committing revolutionary suicide had gotten the most votes. The rumors about the temple started increasing. The US government already had a clue that the people in Jonestown are kept against their will. Ryan the Congressman had ordered that if anyone wants to go back to the US with him then they can come along. Slowly, many people joined. But Jim Jones had something evil in his head. He told one of his trusted members, Larry Layton, that he should go with all the members that are going to sit on the plane, and before the plane takes off, to shoot the pilot.
Just as Ryan, the NBC reporter, and all the defectors were going to reach the airstrip at that time Jim Jones declared that something terrible is going to happen. No followers had an idea that Jim himself had planned all this. Jim Jones had convinced all of his followers that mass suicide is the only option left.
