HOW PUBLIC OPINION WAS MANIPULATED TO SENTENCE MARIE ANTOINETTE TO THE GUILLOTINE. Public opinion can be a pulse check of the people, but it can also be mob rule. Author AK Patch is here today to talk about a case of mob rule that caused the execution of a queen. 1. What do have for us today, A.K? When times are desperate, when emotions run high, when opposing political parties vie for power, media can be used to foster hatred. I’m going to talk about how Queen Marie Antoinette ended up executed by guillotine in 1793. King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette were wed in 1770 as teenagers to foster an alliance between France and Austria. Monarchs live in splendor and sometimes don’t tend to suffering of the population. By 1789, overspending, drought, high prices of bread and taxes, and lack of representation in voting rights caused the people to revolt and threw out the monarchs and the aristocracy. What happened to them? Rumors of a military coup circulated. The people stormed the Bastille, a hated prison, on July 14, 1789 (still celebrated today). The French tried to create a new republic. 2. What happened to King and Queen? Restricted to their palace in Versailles and with the situation deteriorating, The Royal tried to escape France, but were caught and brought back to Versailles in 1791. A more radical group, the Jacobins, attacked Versailles and took the king and queen to prison in August 1792. By January 1793, Louis was sent to the guillotine and had his head snipped off by the heavy blade, watched by thousands who cheered the execution of the King. But what do about the Queen? 3. What happened to her? Put in prison, away from her children and family, in a small dirty room with constant on sight guards with little privacy, they kept her 9 months. Rumors were circulated building more against her. Songs were made up about her treason and guilt and sold by ballad-sellers. The famous statement of “Let them Eat Cake” was made up. They called a cruel, viscous, hussy. A German tigress. ‘I drain your finances,/ And I laugh at your pains: / By my foolish expenditure / France is a tomb.’ The papers even passed a rumor that she had sexual relations with her young son. They used media drive up the hate against her. In truth, she had no say in the governing. Her husband didn’t listen to her advice to reform. This was the time of Reign of Terror. During a ten-month period, around 17,000 people were sent to the guillotine. People loyal to her, tried to help he