In the late 1960s, Jim Jones traveled from Indianapolis, Indiana to Redwood Valley, California, bringing his cult, The People’s Temple, with him. What had by then become a massive organization with thousands of followers had once been a simple community church, focused on inclusion and equality. Jones’s original church, the Community Unity Church, attracted followers through its fake healing services, which they claimed could remove cancerous tissues from the body. Within the next five years, Jones transitioned the church into the People’s Temple Full Gospel Church, which grew an even larger following through its connections to the Latter Rain Movement. As his church grew, Jones began to build the foundation of what he hoped the organization could accomplish. His ideals were attractive; he advocated for the poor, encouraging all members to wear casual clothing so they would not feel out of place, he included African Americans, and he even opened a soup kitchen with expanded social services.
Once The People’s Temple garnered enough followers, Jones began shifting the tone of the organization. He asked for more and more from his followers, slowly cutting them off from the outside world. He also began to push his communist ideas more overtly, creating “religious communalism”, in which the members of the group would donate all of their possessions in exchange for the Temple meeting their needs. However, Jones knew that these new additions would push the boundaries of his followers. Followers in the Midwest were especially resistant to communism, so Jones set his sights on a new target: the West.
Claiming he had a vision of locations in Indianapolis and Chicago being hit by a nuclear attack, Jones set out to relocate his organization to California. The People’s Temple picked up steam in Redwood City as Jones used his new position as a history and government teacher to gather new members. Preaching his ideals as “Apostolic Socialism” Jones strayed farther and farther from the Christian beliefs he used to adhere to, degrading the Bible and traditional Christianity as oppressive and ridiculous. Even more concerning, he began to refer to himself as a savior, often comparing himself to Christ, and even said “I am come as God Socialist”. His strategy was effective though. With the overturning of Jim Crow laws only a few years before, black people still faced heavy discrimination, and they felt encouraged to turn to organizations like Jones’s for support. Other marginalized groups felt a similar sense of belonging in the People’s Temple, and his community continued to grow. Jones kept the true communist nature of the church under layers of religious rhetoric, again using terms like “Apostolic Socialism” to mask his intentions. The Temple continued to grow as Jones encouraged expansion through fundraising, setting up “healings” across the country which generated immense profit. With thousands of people across California and the larger United States, the People’s Temple aimed to expand even further.
Jonestown, Guyana was set to act as a sanctuary for Temple members. Jones encouraged his followers to move to Jonestown to escape the supposed fascism and oppression of the United States, but his real reasons proved a little less honorable. The People’s Temple had garnered increasing media scrutiny, especially from an article published in the New West magazine. Directly after the publication of the article, Jones packed up and left for Guyana. In 1977, the town had less than 50 residents; by the end of 1978, it housed over 900 members. On November 18, 1978, Jones’ paradise came to an end. The night before, California Representative Leo Ryan, arrived in Jonestown to investigate abuse claims. Encountering many members asking to leave with him, Ryan attempted to fly back out the next day. However, Temple security guards opened fire on Ryan and his group, killing three journalists, one Temple member trying to leave, and Ryan himself. That night, Jones forced the entire Jonestown population to drink a cyanide-laced, grape-flavored Flavor Aid, similar to Kool-Aid. Those who refused were injected with cyanide. By the end of the night, 918 people died, including 276 children. Jones himself died of likely self-inflicted gunshot wounds. The Jonestown massacre would become the largest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act since September 11. Following their deaths, the People’s Temple in California dissolved, the remaining members feared being assassinated by the Jonestown survivors. The news of Jonestown reached far from Guyana, bringing a new sense of distrust to United States citizens against religious movements and discouraging the growth of other similar groups.