As reporters and health officials walked onto the grounds of the mass suicide in Guayana, they were in shock over what they were seeing; hundreds of bodies face down on the ground, dead. One person who was at the site said that the amount of dead bodies was appalling, “it was depicted as not American, not religious, not sane, and ultimately not human.”1 Over 550 bodies of the 900 were unclaimed for almost six months until US Officials decided to cremate them. Once they brought the bodies back to the United States from Guayana, many Americans didn’t think it was right to have these bodies spread out on American soil because of the act they made. US Officials then decided to scatter the ashes of the dead bodies away from the United States border lines.
It all started with Jim Jones. Jones was a religious/political cult leader who had established the People’s Temple as a sect in Indianapolis in the 1950s. His cult focused on themes of communism, and the fight against racism, attracting many African Americans. He moved his cult to San Francisco in 1971, but it would not remain there for long. Soon after the group moved there, Jones was accused of financial fraud, physical abuse of his cult’s members, and mistreatment of children. After Jones was accused, in 1973, he became paranoid that someone would try to destroy his cult, so he moved his entire group to Guayana, South America, to build a socialist utopia known as Jonestown.
Once the cult moved to Guayana, people started to question even more the accusations being made against Jim Jones. Members who had left or escaped the cult were worried for the people still in the cult, so they convinced U.S. Congressmen Leo Ryan of California to fly to Guyana. “In November 1978, Ryan along with a group of journalists and relatives of cult members went to investigate the charges.”2 Jones did not like the idea of people coming to investigate, so he ordered his followers to have Ryan and his investigators assassinated. He ordered the attack on the group as they were returning to the airstrip to leave. A journalist named Charles Krause reported that that morning Ryan was attacked by a man with a knife, although he was not hurt by the incident. “Later that same day, Ryan and his party were attacked by assassins at the Port Kaituma Airstrip. Ryan and four others were killed and ten were injured.”3 While these killings were going on, Jones feared that he would lose his cult members and they would turn against him. He then proceeded to lead his people through a mass suicide, which was something the members had repeatedly practiced since the early 1970s.
These practices were called “White Nights” and consisted of members drinking a liquid that they believed was poisonous as a loyalty test to Jones.4 During these “White Nights,” people were woken up by a loud speaker, and they would assemble for the ritual of passing around a drink of kool-aid, which they were told was poison. Unfortunately, this time was not a test. Hundreds of adults and children lined up to drink this colorful, fruit-flavored punch, which contained cyanide and tranquilizers. Most of them thought they were just proving their loyalty as before, but as more people began to die, they realized that this time it was real. “Over 260 children, for example, had the poison given to them, while only about 40 adults escaped.”5 For those who died willingly though, collective suicide held a religious significance in the context of the worldview that had been established in Jonestown.
Collective suicide was a ritual that signified a purity of commitment to the community. On the night that they all drank this poison, Jim Jones announced “that the members of the community were united as black, proud socialists.”6 Collective suicide also promised release from a world dominated by what Jones perceived as American racism, capitalism, and fascism. He did not want to be captured and taken back to America, so instead he urged his followers to drink the poison, and “step out of the world.”7 Jones had told his followers that they were not committing suicide, but rather they were performing an act of freeing themselves from the harsh world that they lived in. There are later reports that when officials went to Jonestown, Jim Jones was found with gunshot wounds, raising the speculation that either he had committed suicide or someone else had killed him.
The Jonestown Massacre was the largest mass suicide in modern history and resulted in the largest single loss of American civilian life in a non-natural disaster until the September 11 attack in 2001. The mass suicide resulted in over 900 deaths of innocent lives. Once the bodies were found, the Guyanese government asked the United States to take the bodies back. US Officials decided to start sending a few people over to identify bodies so they could decide what to do with them. Over 500 bodies were unclaimed and that is when the United States decided to have the US Air Force come in to take the bodies back to the United States.”8 To this day, families of loved ones are still trying to find a memorial place for the lost lives.
- Encyclopedia of Religion, 2005, s.v. “Jonestown and Peoples Temple,” by David Chidester. ↵
- Dictionary of American History, 2003, s.v. “Jonestown Massacre,” by Carolyn Bronstein. ↵
- Dictionary of American History, 2003, s.v. “Jonestown Massacre,” by Carolyn Bronstein. ↵
- Dictionary of American History, 2003, s.v. “Jonestown Massacre,” by Carolyn Bronstein. ↵
- Encyclopdeia of Religion, 2005, s.v. “Jonestown and Peoples Temple,” by David Chidester. ↵
- Encyclopdeia of Religion, 2005, s.v. “Jonestown and Peoples Temple,” by David Chidester. ↵
- Encyclopdeia of Religion, 2005, s.v. “Jonestown and Peoples Temple,” by David Chidester. ↵
- Encyclopdeia of Religion, 2005, s.v. “Jonestown and Peoples Temple,” by David Chidester. ↵
150 comments
Megan Barnett
I find this article extremely shocking and I am surprised that I have not heard of this event before. It is devastating to know that some of the people were tricked or convinced into kill themselves. It is hard to imagine something happening like this not too long ago during the 1970’s when we had various ways to have prevented it.
Oceane Roux
I didn’t know about this case until I read this article and the first question coming to my mind is how this man, Jim Jones, has been able to convince 900 people to commit suicide. I am wondering what kind of man he was for his cult’s members. Probably a charismatic and eloquent speaker, in order to manipulate these people. I find this story truly upsetting and unfair, especially for the 260 children involved.
Auroara-Juhl Nikkels
It boggles me how one man was able to convince over 900 people to commit suicide. How one man was able to convince parents that their children were safe and okay in a situation where this man was telling them to drink this “poison” and it would be okay. Your article was informative and it kept me interested the whole time. I knew a little bit about this event before reading this, but I wasn’t ever really interested in learning until now. I wonder how he was able to convince so many people to join and then eventually kill themselves and make an assassination on US government officials.
Erin Vento
I really enjoyed reading this article! I hadn’t heard of the massacre prior to reading it and found it really interesting. I would, however, really like to know what happened before all this that made Jones start to cult, but I really liked how you went into detail explaining the day of the mass suicide. Overall, I thought it was very interesting and factual.
Thomas Fraire
I loved this article, I heard a podcast over this tragedy that occured in Jonestown in high school. The leadership qualities that Jim Jones must have had are insane. I mean someone who could lead a group of people to move into a subpar living space, and then convince them all to move out of the country into even worse conditions. All to conclude with incurring them into a mass suicide is bewildering and tragic.
Mario Sosa
I find it to be frightening how one man was able to convince over 900 people to commit suicide all at once. Even more eerie was how Jim Jones got his followers to assassinate a U.S. Congressman. Jonestown is the perfect example of why one should think twice before joining a cult. Although I would have liked to read a bit more about how Jones was able to convert so many people to his cult, I enjoyed reading the article. Great job!
Ezequiel De La Fuente
Lianna Ybarra did such an amazing job at being straight forward and telling us this infamous tale that took place in Jonestown. Before this article, I had heard of the incident but I didn’t know all the details or the events that led up to the mass suicide. A truly horrifying event, but nevertheless, history.
Its crazy to believe how radically devoted his followers were that they would commit these acts. What is even more unbelievable is the man that was Jim Jones. Clearly he was so disturbed to the extent that he convinced his followers that the only way out of hardships was death.
Sarah Mares
Prior to this, I had heard of the massacre but it wasn’t until now that I’ve become exposed to what it was about. It was incredibly saddening to read about those lives lost in the Jonestown Massacre, either form this article or anywhere online/in books relating to the tragedy. This article was great and informing, as I could assume how brainwashed Jones had the people who were in his cult and how terrifying it must have been to witness. The entire situation is very tragic and it is upsetting that a resting place for lost lives is still not established.
Christian Garcia
What an interesting, well written article. It’s amazing to see how strong someone’s beliefs can become that it drives them to suicide. Of course they didn’t know that at this particular moment they were drinking cyanide. It would be interesting to know how many would have truly drank the cyanide willingly knowing it was their last act on earth. I’m not sure how our politicians would react to a situation like this today.
Rebekah Esquivel
I first heard about this event in my history class my senior year of high school. It’s almost hard to believe the various things people will do when they have faith in something or someone. These people were so devoted to Jones that they willingly practiced mass suicides in order to prove loyalty. Many people may say they were crazy, but in some odd way I found this reading very fascinating. Just trying to grasp how these people became so brain washed is confusing yet interesting. This is a very tragic and sad event but also a very big learning opportunity for everyone.