Jonestown Massacre Theory

The Jonestown Massacre “Hurry my children, hurry, Jim Jones told his followers as they drank the poison that ended their lives”(Streissguth 1). James Warren Jones was an American religious leader who was born on May 13, 1931 and died on November 18, 1978. Jones soon became known as the leader of a cult called “ The People’s Temple”. Jim Jones initiated and was responsible for a mass murder and mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana. Mass murder and mass suicide committed by Jim Jones and the government as a part of the massacre are two theories surrounding the mystery behind “The Jonestown Massacre”.

Jim Jones, a religious leader, was mainly known for brainwashing and leading his followers to a mass murder and suicide. To clarify, Jim Jones was

Specifically, according to this theory Jim Jones began to mess around with the idea of a “Revolutionary Suicide”(Jonestown Massacre 3). For example, a member from The People’s Temple that escaped told about practicing suicide drills (Streissguth 1). Meanwhile, after the member told people about this a reporter and Congressman Leo Ryan went to investigate what was going on. He found that everything that was said was true such as the suicide drills, beatings, and many people asked for them to take them with them. Once Ryan decided to leave Jones found out and sent gunman to terminate Ryan and the reporter out of fear that the truth about Jonestown would be exposed. Soon after, as a form of rebellion, Jones told his people to gather around and commit what he called a “Revolutionary Act”(Moore 5). To clarify, later the next day,” Jim Jones, age forty-seven, was found dead from a single bullet wound to the head, most likely self-inflicted”(Jonestown 2). Jim Jones committed suicide after also leading nine-hundred plus people into the same dead end including Congressman Ryan, displaying beatings, and suicide drills. Out of fear of the consequences of his actions Jim Jones was held responsible for the mass murder and suicide his followers at The People’s Temple in Jonestown,Guyana on November 18,

According to theory one Jim Jones was responsible for the deaths of his nine-hundred plus followers and Congressman Leo Ryan. According to theory two Guyana, and the U.S were responsible for the deaths of Jones’ followers, Congressman Leo Ryan, and James Jones himself. Out of just these two theories they are both holding valuable information to each side of the argument. There are a lot of theories out there but only one is true about what really happened on November 18, 1978 in Jonestown,