Upton Sinclair Dbq

Urbanization in the early 20th century paved the way for massive industrial booms within larger cities, however leaving behind trails of corruptness and gruesome consequences. Many political scandals and factory based controversies emerged as a result of the lack of regulations, especially in the large, consumer-goods producing industries. Due to their political impact and high social standings, many feared the ramifications that would follow any protest to the corrupt practices. Company owners and managers would hire their own inspectors, who would essentially falsify information about the conditions, and deem them satisfactory, but in reality, it was quite the opposite. Immigrants were especially susceptible to malpractices, seeing that

His father came from a long line of Southern military-loyal men, tracing back to British Norfolk. His mother’s family were wealthy Marylanders, accustomed to an easy lifestyle. His father Upton B. Sinclair, poor as he was, looked for a way to make a living. Given the time period during whence cotton, tobacco, and alcohol secured a foundation in the South, his father started a business as a wholesale liquor salesman. His father’s business moved him to Baltimore, where he met Priscilla Harden, who would become his wife. The couple had very little money, causing strains on the marriage. His father sought an escape in the thing that failed him – alcohol. Sinclair’s mother abhorred liquor, and would not even drink tea or coffee, seeing anything of the like as sinful. Priscilla Sinclair’s religious background heavily influenced her standard for her son, and Sinclair adopted many Protestant beliefs. Frequently, she would send him to her family’s home in hopes of removing him from his father’s drunken stupor. Her family too helped in molding young Sinclair, especially by instilling a love of education and of wealth. Soon, Sinclair began to realize the vast differences in the social classes of his own family and his mother’s. He enjoyed his time away from poverty, and at times debated on staying with his mother’s family, however loyalty kept him from doing so. His father eventually moved his family to New York to pursue a

Sinclair’s most famed work, The Jungle, was published in the Socialist weekly Appeal to Reason. The Jungle followed the life of an immigrant named Jurgis and his family as they struggled to survive and have a life while working in a stockyard district. The story begins happy, with the wedding of the main character. As the plot progresses, various trials unfold and display the horrors of the meatpacking industry. Revulsive conditions were abundant in the story (Swados,