By 1900 Upton was ready to write the great American novel, but his success would have to wait. He wrote a trilogy in 1903 titled Manassas about the Civil War which put forth some of his socialist views. It was reviewed favorably but unfortunately it did not sell well. He was now being noticed by the American socialist movement and this eventually led to his investigation of the Chicago meat-packing industry and the resulting novel, The Jungle. The publisher initially was hesitant to publish the book until they had checked on the accuracy of his statements. Doubleday, Page and Company did publish The Jungle in 1906 and Sinclair became an immediate success.

“I had now “arrived.” The New York Evening World said, “Not since Byron awoke one morning to find himself famous has there been such an example of world-wide celebrity won in a day by a book as has come to Upton Sinclair.” (Autobiography, p. 122)

Not all the notoriety was positive. He had many critics and the book was even banned at some libraries across the country.

 

Upton by this point had joined the ranks of the Muckrakers. They were investigative journalists during the Progressive Era from the 1890s to the 1920s, who exposed the evils of society in both the public and private sectors and pressed for reforms.

He tried practicing his socialist beliefs by founding the Helicon Home Colony at Englewood, New Jersey in 1906. It was short lived and a fire in March of 1907 destroyed the colony. “So, from November I, 1906, to March 7, 1907 (at three o’clock in the morning, to be precise), the young dreamer of Utopia lived according to his dreams” (Autobiography, p. 129),

 

Upton continued writing articles, books and plays until the end of his life, most reflecting the spirit of the muckrakers.

His political aspirations were another important aspect of Sinclair’s life. He was a devoted Socialist until 1917 when he resigned from the party until World War I was over, after which he re-joined the party. He moved to California in 1915 and ran as a Socialist candidate for Congress in 1920 and for the Senate in 1922. He also ran for Governor of California in 1926 and 1930 and by 1934 he had switched his loyalties and ran for Governor of California as a Democratic Party candidate.

 

He continued writing and lecturing for the rest of his life. It is reported that in the San Francisco Sunday Chronicle on April 8, 1962, Sinclair wrote: “I didn’t like the way I found America some sixty years ago, and I’ve been trylng to change it ever since. I think I have succeeded in some ways.” Upton Sinclair died on November 25, 1968 in Bound Brook, New Jersey leaving a legacy of writings and activism leading to reform legislation that still has an impact on America today.