The Birth of The Jungle
“I am Upton Sinclair, and I have come to write the Uncle Tom’s Cabin of the labor movement.”
- The Jungle and Progressive Era by Robert W. Cherny
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a revolutionary novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. The novel changed the way Americans viewed slavery just like The Jungle transformed the minds of Americans in 1906.
- The Jungle and Progressive Era by Robert W. Cherny
Uncle Tom's Cabin was a revolutionary novel written by Harriet Beecher Stowe in 1852. The novel changed the way Americans viewed slavery just like The Jungle transformed the minds of Americans in 1906.
"Following it's serialization in the Appeal to Reason, Doubleday published The Jungle as a book on the 28th of February, 1906 to immediate and sensational international success. Within months it had been translated into 17 languages and amassed an impressive list of vocal admirers including George Bernard Shaw, Bertolt Brecht, Eugene Debs, Winston Churchill and Jack London, who commented: "What Uncle Tom's Cabin did for black slaves, The Jungle has a large chance to do for the wage-slaves of today."
-www.onthisdeity.com
-www.onthisdeity.com
"What makes The Jungle important is the setting in Chicago's meatpacking factories. Upton Sinclair combined his own socialist ideals and agenda with some really hard-hitting descriptions of Packingtown and its poor sanitation and hygiene."
-http://www.shmoop.com/the-jungle/setting.html
-http://www.shmoop.com/the-jungle/setting.html
Both of these data charts show that from 1906 to 1910, the years immediately following the publication of The Jungle, the number of animals slaughtered in Chicago was lower than previous years, most likely due to the claims made by Sinclair. The years following 1910 show that the number of animals slaughtered then began to increase once again due to the meatpacking industry regaining the trust of consumers.
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Publishing
"As he went to publisher after publisher, he was also revising the version that had appeared in serial form, trimming it, removing duplicative material, modifying the final chapters, improving his use of Lithuanian phrases, and modifying material that might have invited a lawsuit for libel. Just as he was about to begin his self-publishing venture, he received an acceptance from Doubleday, Page and Company. Like other publishers, Doubleday had been concerned for the possibility of legal liability if the packing companies were to sue. Their offer to publish was contingent on their ability to verify the truth of Sinclair’s descriptions of the packing plants...
"As he went to publisher after publisher, he was also revising the version that had appeared in serial form, trimming it, removing duplicative material, modifying the final chapters, improving his use of Lithuanian phrases, and modifying material that might have invited a lawsuit for libel. Just as he was about to begin his self-publishing venture, he received an acceptance from Doubleday, Page and Company. Like other publishers, Doubleday had been concerned for the possibility of legal liability if the packing companies were to sue. Their offer to publish was contingent on their ability to verify the truth of Sinclair’s descriptions of the packing plants...
...One of their editors went to Chicago and interviewed a former governmental meat inspector, who confirmed that Sinclair’s version was not exaggerated. Not satisfied, the editor secured an inspector’s badge and prowled through the vast packing plants. His conclusion: things were as bad as Sinclair had reported, maybe worse. The book was released on January 25, 1906, and created an international sensation, selling 25,000 copies in six weeks. It has never been out of print and was made into a movie in 1913. Though less than six months had passed from Doubleday’s publication of The Jungle to the signing of the Meat Inspection Act, Sinclair was disappointed that his book had produced only a federal law regulating meatpackers and not a surge of popular support for socialism. “I aimed at the public’s heart,” he famously observed, “and by accident I hit it in the stomach.” -"The Jungle and Progressive Era" by Robert W. Cherny
The images from the slideshow on this page were found from the following websites;
ecc.pima.edu, estellasrevenge.blogspot.com, Tower.com,careysantiques.com, paperbackswap.com, www.press.uillinois.edu, douglasvalue.com
ecc.pima.edu, estellasrevenge.blogspot.com, Tower.com,careysantiques.com, paperbackswap.com, www.press.uillinois.edu, douglasvalue.com