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Primary sourceBook1906

The Jungle

Upton Sinclair · 1906

Upton Sinclair's 1906 novel exposing meatpacking conditions, which provoked Roosevelt's investigation and new food-safety laws.

This novel's exposure of meatpacking conditions prompted Roosevelt to investigate and push for food-safety reform.

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Front cover of a green cloth-bound book titled THE JUNGLE by UPTON SINCLAIR. A framed black-and-cream illustration at top shows a factory complex with smokestacks emitting billowing smoke.
Upton Sinclair, The Jungle, 1906. Doubleday, Page & Company.

About this source

What it is

This is a novel by Upton Sinclair, published in 1906 by Doubleday, Page & Company after being serialized in 1905. It tells the story of a fictional immigrant family working in Chicago's meatpacking industry.

Why it matters

Though Sinclair wrote the book to promote socialism, its graphic descriptions of unsanitary meatpacking practices caused public outrage. President Theodore Roosevelt read the book, ordered an investigation into the meat industry, and the uproar helped lead to the Meat Inspection Act and the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906. The book shows how a work of fiction could directly shape government policy.

Look closer

  • Why might a novel have more impact on public opinion than a government report?
  • What does Roosevelt's response tell you about the relationship between writers and politicians?
  • What parts of the immigrant experience does the story focus on, and what might it leave out?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Theodore Roosevelt on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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