Fraternity-Testvériség, 1965 (43. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)
1965-11-01 / 11. szám
10 FRATERNITY JOHN ADAMS — SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES On October 19, 1735 — 230 years ago — John Adams, second President of the United States and father of the sixth President, was born at Braintree, Massachusetts. After his graduation from Harvard College in 1755, Adams studied law. When news of the Stamp Act reached Massachusetts, he drafted resolutions of protest which set an example to other towns in the state. In 1774 he was elected one of the delegates to the first Continental Congress and was a member of the committee which drafted the Declaration of Independence. He was Vice President during Washington’s administration and in 1796, after Washington indicated that he was unwilling to serve another term, Adams was elected President. His administration was marked by dissension in his Cabinet and troubles with France, and he retired from politics at the end of his first term. He was succeeded as President by his leading opponent, Thomas Jefferson. Adams died on July 4, 1826, at the age of ninety-one. — (A. C. N. S.) ★ ★ ★ UNITED NATIONS DAY October 24th marked the twentieth anniversary of the date in 1945 when the United Nations Charter went into effect. The most comprehensive experiment in international co-operation ever undertaken by man, the United Nations has contributed to world peace by resisting aggression in Korea and averting or actually halting conflicts in other trouble spots of the world. In addition, the United Nations has carried on an extensive social, political and economic program designed to eradicate poverty and disease, and to promote education and self-government for all peoples. Called by President Eisenhower “Man’s best hope for peace”, the UN can remain an effective force for peace only if it receives the full support of the peoples of the world. UN Day this year, as in previous years, was marked by special ceremonies in the countries which are members of the United Nations. — (A. C. N. S.) ★ ★ ★ OPENING OF THE ERIE CANAL On October 25, 1825 — 140 years ago — the Erie Canal, one of the most important inland waterways in the United States, was opened to traffic. Three hundred sixty-three miles in length and forty feet wide, it connected Buffalo on the Great Lakes with Albany on the Hudson River. The Erie Canal served as a link between the Middle West and the Eastern seaboard, and exercised a tremendous influence on the growth of both New York City and New York State. It quickly became a chief route for emigrants from New England to the Great Lakes country, and was instrumental in creating an agricultural boom in the West. Its success started a canal-building era. The Erie Canal, built at a cost of a little more than seven million dollars, was periodically enlarged until 1909 when it was reconstructed as a barge canal. — (A. C.N. S.)
