The Muckraker: The Legacy of Upton Sinclair All over the world, many writers and radicals believe there is power in the written word, but no one can fathom the extent this individual took it to. He has made a name for himself globally and has earned the himself the title “radical” or “muckraker,” the latter was a term used by president Theodore Roosevelt for journalists who expose social issues (1906: The Birth of a Voice 24-25). Sinclair fought against various social injustices and dreamed of a perfect utopia free from corruption and was an avid socialist in the progressive era. With the forcefulness of words, this writer from Baltimore, Maryland has shaped American history more than any author or politician. Sinclair has fought against …show more content…
Sinclair was born on September 20, 1878 in Baltimore, Maryland and grew up in New York, this unique environment shaped him and his ethics ( Billingsley 882). For instance, Sinclair was from the lineage of great naval heroes, but his father was incompetent in fulfilling his ancestor's legacy due to his alcoholic tendencies (Valiunas 45-49). He dragged his family into poverty. In contrast, Sinclair’s mother came from affluence and was related to the wealthiest man in Baltimore (Valiunas 45-49).This enabled Sinclair to see both sides of the world, what it was like to be broke and what luxury it was to be plentiful (Valiunas 45-49). Likewise, author Algis Valiunas insinuates that these hardships lead Sinclair to advocate for socialism, perhaps he saw it a cure to society’s inequalities. Furthermore, Upton Sinclair was an avid writer during adolescence, at the age of fifteen he sold gags and stories to magazines, at nineteen he wrote a five and dimes series about a cadet from West Point, most likely because he came from military glory (Valiunas 45-49). To influence his opinion, he wrote for multiple newspapers, …show more content…
His fight against this social injustice began prior to writing The Jungle. Authors like Anthony Arthur and Kevin Mattson claim the structure is much like Uncle Tom’s Cabin, this too sparked a fight against inequality (Seed 470). The novel narrates the weary life of Lithuanian immigrant, Jurgis Rudkus, and the daily abuses he encounters as a meat packer (Valiunas 45-49). Sinclair’s role in this issue was his emergence into the political spectrum and from then on became known as a “muckraker.” In his article in Appeal to Reason, he beseeched meat packers to endeavor for humane working conditions (Valiunas 45-49). Before Sinclair’s interference—the conditions in the stockyards were very horrific. The surroundings were far from sanitary and lethal, meat was hastily held in rooms where water from the ceiling would trickle on it and was coated in rat feces. To exterminate the pests, workers used poisoned bread to kill the rodents, but this became a health threat because the rats, the tainted bread and meat entered the hopper (Valiunas 45-49). Commenter, for The Weekly Standard, Algis Valiunas muses, “For it is not just the meat packing industry but entire social order that amass of systematic corruption.” Many credit Sinclair and other significant figures for creating investigative journalism because Sinclair went undercover to gather data in Packingtown in southern