Upton_Sinclair

Upton Sinclair Upton Sinclair was born in Baltimore in 1878. His mother was from a rich southern family and his father was a salesman. His father was an alcoholic and his family was very poor. He spent his summers with his rich Grandparents. His experiences seeing the two extremes is what he said led him to socialism. His family moved to New York when he was ten and when he was 14 he enrolled in college. He was very intelligent, motivated and religious. After college he wrote stories about West Point cadets to make a living. He moved to a cabin in the woods and married Meta Fuller and began to write novels. To gain attention he posted an obituary in the newspaper about a talented poet named Arthur Sterling, then later he released a novel in that name. It was found out to be a hoax and he got the attention he desired. When Sinclair read Merrie England he decided to become an active socialist. He was also very influenced by Frank Norris and Ida Tarbell. It changed his writing style The newspaper Appeal to Reason commissioned Sinclair in 1904 to write a piece about the meat packing industry. The article was very popular and helped improve the circulation of the paper. To write the article he moved to Chicago and lived like an immigrant. Sinclair decided to write a whole novel about the horrors of working in a meat packing plant, but no one wanted to publish it. Finally after he decided to publish it himself a company decided to publish it. The Jungle was a huge success and after just a few years it had been translated into seventeen different languages. When Roosevelt read the novel he thought it was important enough to begin the Pure Food and Drug Act, even though he disapproved of the novel's socialist message. Sinclair inspired more investigative journalism that Roosevelt called muckraking. Sinclair spent the rest of his life deeply involved in socialism. He published over 90 novels in his life. He was the socialist party's candidate for Congress in New Jersey and later for governor in California. He created a socialist community in New Jersey but it but it burnt down. up until he died at the age of ninety he had very strong views on world events and still strongly believed in socialism.