Upton Sinclair was born today in writing history, September 20. Celebrate the occasion by learning more about the writer’s life and contributions to the writing world. Aspiring writers should look for inspiration while reading and practice their writing with a Today in Writing exercise.

Today in Writing: September 20: Upton Sinclair’s Birthday

Upton Sinclair was born on September 20, 1878. Sinclair is best known for his novel The Jungle. Its exposure of the meat-packing industry in the United States during the early 1900s led to reforms and standards to better protect consumers.

Additional Facts About Upton Sinclair

Take this opportunity to learn more about Upton Sinclair’s life and contributions to the literary world. The Jungle was an instant best-seller but was not Sinclair’s first novel. He considered himself a writer, wrote many texts before its publication, and continued to author more after. Find inspiration and learn more details about the author below.

Upton Sinclair Biography

Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on September 20, 1878. His father, Upton Sr., was a liquor salesman and alcoholic. Upton Sr.’s family had been financially drained during the American Civil War, and the family lived in impoverished conditions. Sinclair’s mother, Priscilla, was a strict Episcopalian whose family was relatively affluent. Young Upton Sinclair Jr. saw the living conditions of both the poor and wealthy.

Upton Sinclair’s Early Years

Upton Sinclair has a love of reading at a young age. As early as 5, he began reading his mother’s books to educate himself about the world around him. However, he would not start school until age 10, which left him severely behind in mathematics. Upton would work hard to catch up with his classmates but would excel academically.

In 1888, the family moved to Queens in New York City. Four years later, Upton Jr. enrolled in the City College of New York on September 15, 1892, just a few days before his 14th birthday. He earned his tuition by writing dime novels and magazine articles in his early career. He did well enough to help move his parents into an apartment.

Sinclair graduated in June 1897 and went on to study law at Columbia University. However, he focused on writing and continued producing text to support himself. Upton Sinclair would leave Columbia without a degree but would write four books over the following four years: King Midas (1901), Prince Hagen (1902), The Journal of Arthur Stirling (1903), and a Civil War novel, Manassas (1904). These books were well received but not commercially successful.

Upton Sinclair Writing Career

Sinclair’s writing career began when he started writing to support himself through school. He considered himself a poet and spent the majority of his time writing. In 1904, he spent time undercover at a Chicago meat-packing plant. Using his experience and first-hand accounts, Upton Sinclair published The Jungle in 1906. 

The account of the appalling and vile practices and the working conditions of poor workers became an instant best-seller. Reaction to Upton Sinclair’s novel would eventually help form the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Sinclair would continue speaking truth to power through his writing. Over a decade later, in 1919, his novel The Brass Check commented on the state of journalism in the United States. Sinclair would call it the most important and most dangerous book he had ever written.

Sinclair in Politics

Upton Sinclair was a proclaimed socialist and communist. He would run unsuccessfully for federal office a handful of times on the Socialist Party ticket. In California, Sinclair unsuccessfully ran for Governor in 1926 and 1930, with the final bid earning him nearly 50,000 votes. Upton Sinclair eventually joined the Democratic Party and ran for Governor of California again in 1934, but lost again with only 879,000 votes.

Sinclair’s communist and socialist views did not paint him in a favorable light. Throughout his campaign, Upton was the target of unfair attacks by influential executives and wealthy individuals. Upton Sinclair’s plan to end poverty in California was portrayed as a socialist takeover, and he was depicted as a staunch communist. His progressive proposals, like an old age pension, were not taken seriously. After his final defeat, Sinclair left politics to focus on his writing.

“The American People will take Socialism, but they won’t take the label. I certainly proved it in the case of EPIC. Running on the Socialist ticket I got 60,000 votes, and running on the slogan to ‘End Poverty in California’ I got 879,000. I think we simply have to recognize the fact that our enemies have succeeded in spreading the Big Lie. There is no use attacking it by a front attack, it is much better to out-flank them.” – Upton Sinclair, 1951

Later Life and Death

Upton Sinclair would continue writing in his later life, authoring over 100 books. His works would remain popular throughout the first half of the 20th Century, and Sinclair was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1943. A handful of his novels were even adapted to film. Sinclair’s 1927 novel, Oil!, was the basis of the 2007 movie, There Will Be Blood.

After a series of marriages and moving around the country, Sinclair finally came to rest in Bound Brook, New Jersey. Upton Sinclair passed away in a nursing him in Bound Brook on November 25, 1968. He is buried in Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington, DC.

Upton Sinclair, The Jungle

Upton Sinclair began research on The Jungle in 1904. While in Chicago, Illinois, he disguised himself and worked at a meat-packing plant. While there, he witnessed horrible conditions and exploitation the poor workers were forced to endure. Sinclair also saw the unclean, unsafe, and unsanitary practices used to prepare and sell meat. It all went into the novel.

The Jungle was a muckraking novel. Muckrakers aimed to expose wrongdoing and corruption through publications to bring it to the public’s attention. Through sensationalism, muckrakers hoped to bring about reforms.

The Jungle’s Impact

Upon its publication in 1906, The Jungle became an instant best-seller. Audiences were in an uproar about the practices Sinclair exposed. Sinclair wrote the novel to promote Socialism. The outrage his story created quickly rose to national levels. 

American politicians, like President Theodore Roosevelt, were not fond of Sinclair’s piece. Roosevelt called much of The Jungle lies but agreed with some of the points raised. The United States Congress passed two laws in 1906 to respond to the public’s reaction: The Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act. The Pure Food and Drug Act eventually led to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

Notable Upton Sinclair Books In Order

Courtmartialed (1898)

Saved By the Enemy (1898)

The Fighting Squadron (1898)

A Prisoner of Morro (1898)

A Soldier Monk (1898)

A Gauntlet of Fire (1899)

Springtime and Harvest (1901)

The Journal of Arthur Stirling (1903)

Off For West Point (1903)

The West Point Rivals (1903)

A West Point Treasure (1903)

A Cadet’s Honor (1903)

Cliff, the Naval Cadet (1903)

The Cruise of the Training Ship (1903)

Prince Hagen (1903)

Manassas: A Novel of the War (1904)

A Captain of Industry (1906)

The Jungle (1906)

The Overman (1907)

The Industrial Republic (1907)

Sylvia (1913)

Sylvia’s Marriage (1914)

King Coal (1917)

The Goslings: A Study of the American Schools (1924)

The Spokesman’s Secretary (1926)

Money Writes! (1927)

Oil! (1927)

Roman Holiday (1931)

The Wet Parade (1931)

Expect No Peace (1939)

Marie Antoinette (novel) (1939)

Between Two Worlds (1941)

Dragon’s Teeth (1942)

Presidential Agent (1944)

Dragon Harvest (1945)

A World to Win (1946)

A Presidential Mission (1947)

A Giant’s Strength (1948)

Limbo on the Loose (1948)

One Clear Call (1948)

The Coal War (1976)

Today in Writing: September 20 – 15 Upton Sinclair Quotes

Upton Sinclair was a talented journalist and writer. His literary contributions exposed the terrible conditions of the lower class in the United States during the 19th Century. Sinclair’s The Jungle remains a first-hand account of these conditions. Its ability to raise awareness and spur action is Upton Sinclair’s legacy. 

Aspiring writers should take note of the author’s dedication and ability to write every day. His list of novels is impressive and undoubtedly a result of his passion and commitment to writing and literature. Upton Sinclair’s ability to document non-fiction and fiction is a skill all writers should seek to possess.

15 Quotes From Upton Sinclair

It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.

The private control of credit is the modern form of slavery.

It is foolish to be convinced without evidence, but it is equally foolish to refuse to be convinced by real evidence.

Fascism is capitalism plus murder.

You don’t have to be satisfied with America as you find it. You can change it. I didn’t like the way I found America some sixty years ago, and I’ve been trying to change it ever since.

One of the necessary accompaniments of capitalism in a democracy is political corruption.

American journalism is a class institution, serving the rich and spurning the poor.

They use everything about the hog except the squeal.

I aimed at the public’s heart, and by accident I hit it in the stomach.

Man is an evasive beast, given to cultivating strange notions about himself.

All art is propaganda. It is universally and inescabably propaganda; sometimes unconsciously, but often deliberately, propaganda.

If we are the greatest nation the sun ever shone upon, it would seem to be mainly because we have been able to goad our wage-earners to this pitch of frenzy.

Wall Street had been doing business with pieces of paper; and now someone asked for a dollar, and it was discovered that the dollar had been mislaid.

To do that would mean, not merely to be defeated, but to acknowledge defeat- and the difference between these two things is what keeps the world going.

The old wanderlust had gotten into his blood, the joy of the unbound life, the joy of seeking, of hoping without limit.

Today in Writing: September 20 – Aspiring Writers Daily Writing Exercise

Do any of the stories from Upton Sinclair’s life inspire you? Do any of Sinclair’s literary contributions to writing give you an idea of your own? Do any of his quotes inspire or make you think? 

Find a topic from Today in Writing: September 20 and freewrite about it for at least 10 minutes. Upton Sinclair was a writer dedicated to the craft and authored a number of texts across several genres, producing over 100 books over his lifetime. His ability to document life helped readers understand the lives and points of view of workers and the elite.

Don’t let any opportunity to write go to waste. Aspiring writers: Practice your writing today! Celebrate Today in Writing History September 20.