Upton Beall Sinclair: Katy Buffo Period 6

Upton Sinclair was born in Baltimore Maryland on September 20^th, 1878. His father was a drunk of the lower class, so Sinclair spent most of his time with his Grandparents who were of the wealthy upper class. Because of his switching houses constantly, Sinclair got to see the lives of upper, and lower class people. Once his family moved to New York City in 1888, Sinclair was well educated and attended New York City College at the age of 14 (then a prep school). From there he went on to study at Columbia University, and paid his way through college through stories published in a local magazine. During his educational years, Sinclair became a member of the Socialist Party of America, and later would go on to help found the Intercollegiate Socialist Society.  Sinclair is most known for his novel The Jungle. Sinclair researched for a mere seven weeks for this novel by going undercover in Chicago meat packing factory; although, its affects would last much longer than that. Before it was published in 1906, Sinclair was rejected by six publishers.  Finally, Sinclair published the book on his own, although his book did not become a bestseller for two years. The Jungle led to the Meat Inspection Act of 1906, and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 because it exposed the meat packing industry and their disgusting processing. Sinclair became an instant success among muckrakers, and used the money he made from his first novel to found the utopian Helicon Home Colony, in New Jersey. The colony was a failure as it burned down within a year.  In 1920, Sinclair moved to California with his second wife. Here Sinclair’s political career took off as far as it ever would. Here, Sinclair founded the American Civil Liberties Union, which led to him unsuccessfully running for Congress twice on the socialist ticket. His defeats in the elections led him to start a movement in California to end poverty, which was initially inspired by his passion for Industrial Workers Freedom of Speech. He unsuccessfully ran for governor, but gained support of the Democratic Party because of it, and also their nomination. The Great Depression brought about an end of support for Sinclair politically, as many viewed his run to end poverty as a communist takeover of their state. After Sinclair lost to Merriam, he left politics and returned to writing. Sinclair continued writing until his death in 1968. After his political career, Sinclair continued to expose the problems with the social and economic ways of America, and only once wrote about his politics. Sinclair was survived by no one, as none of his three marriages resulted in any children, and his wife past away a year before him. Sinclair was perhaps the most influential, and popular muckraker of his time, whose writings not only inspired many new, acts, and laws, but several motion pictures. He helped the American people see behind big business in America, and left a legacy on America for uncovering the truth.

Works Cited

"Famous Marylanders - Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Its Effects." Teaching American History in Maryland - Documents for the Classroom - Maryland State Archives. An Archives of Maryland Online Publication, 2005. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. <http://teachingamericanhistorymd.net/000001/000000/000167/html/t167.html>.

Simkin, John. "Upton Sinclair : Biography." Spartacus Educational. Spartacus Educational, 20 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Jan. 2012.

"Upton Sinclair." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 20 Jan. 2011. Web. 25 Jan. 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upton_Sinclair>.