Influences On Upton Sinclair's Life

Upton Sinclair was an only child born on September 20, 1878. He was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Even though his name was respected in the South from his great-grandfathers fame in the War of 1812, Upton Sinclair grew up in a family without much money. Any profit his father made was spent on alcohol. Living in poverty, the family moved often, unable to pay rent. Upton Sinclair became close to his mother, due to his father always being away or drunk. Upton Sinclair's mother, Priscilla, gave him the ability to fulfill the need to read. Reading books was how Sinclair spent most of his time, and he would often spend entire days reading. At the age of 8, he and his family moved to New York City. He didn't start schooling till around the age of 11, but excelled in his classes to catch up with the other kids his age. Sinclair started writing while still attending school. He wrote jokes and puzzles that were placed in children's magazines. The income he received from this allowed him to get his own apartment. He attended the City College of New York where he studied law. After deciding against a career in law, Sinclair

Upton Sinclair was influenced by Socialism, and found the ways of American capitalism destructive. Many of his articles he wrote were published in a Socialist weekly. To explore more opportunities in writing, Sinclair moved to Chicago, Illinois. In Chicago he was influenced into writing his novel, The Jungle, due to the working conditions he observed in the packinghouse district. Upton Sinclair stayed in Chicago for 7 weeks, and was showed around the stockyards by workers who helped him in his research. They often sat down with him at night to tell him stories of their experiences, "'I sat at night in the homes of the workers, foreign born and native, and they told me their stories, one after one, and I made notes'" (Coodley