Response to the following :
1. What were the reasons America's forefathers divided the government into the legislative, judicial, and presidential branches? How does this benefit the three branches?
The idea that power can be abused if monopolized by one individual is not a new idea. Ancient history is replete with examples of absolute rulers who terrorized neighboring societies as well as their own people. The Roman Caesars drove the Roman Empire to ruin through their megalomania and abuse of power. Louis XIV and Louis XVI of France provided a similarly disastrous leadership style in France. Lord Acton, famed British historian and moralist wrote the following in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887, "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." William Pitt served as the British Prime Minister from 1766 to 1778. The dissatisfaction and resentment in the American colonies was building and would lead the Patriot leaders to embrace open rebellion against England in 1776. In 1770 William Pitt, in a speech before the House of Commons, made the following insightful quote. "Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it." (McClellan, 2000).