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Jim Jones

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“Don't drink the kool-aid” is a phrase that was coined after the mass suicide in Jonestown, Guyana on November 18, 1978. James (Jim) Jones was a religious leader of the People’s Temple cult and is responsible for more the deaths of 909 men, women, and children through a mass suicide using cyanide-laced grape punch. Aided by his high IQ and his manipulative ways, Jones was able to carry out his communist goals. Jones managed to wipe out 909 people overnight which lands him a well earned spot in history.
James (Jim) Warren Jones was born to James Thurman Jones and Lynetta Putnam Jones on May 13, 1931 in Crete, Indiana. During Jim’s childhood, he was known to be an avid reader who studied the works of Mahatma Gandhi, Karl Marx, Mao Zedong, Joseph Stalin, and Adolf Hitler, taking note of what caused their successes and downfalls. Jim’s obsession with religion was fed by his struggle to make friends and his fascination with death. Following the separation of Jones’ parents, he moved to Richmond, Indiana. While living with his mother, Jones graduated with honors from Richmond …show more content…

Jones instructed the members to move to Redwood Valley, California for safety. At this point, Jones rejected the bible and began to preach that there was no heaven. In the late 1960s, Jones began revealing that the religion was secretly founded on communism ideals. In the early 1970s, Jones stated to the members of the Peoples Temple that there was no heaven and that they would have to build their own heaven on Earth.
Due to the immense growth in the membership in the Peoples Temples once it was moved to California, branches were opened in cities such as San Francisco, San Fernando, and Los Angeles, causing the Temple’s headquarters to be moved to San Francisco. The Peoples Temple became involved in racial movements in the area, increasing

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