Monday, November 26, 2012

The Battle of Saratoga: The Turning Point

The Battle of Saratoga, a major victory for the Continental Army in 1777, could have been a massive victory for the British.  Their famous "Three-Pronged Attack" on New York never fully developed, giving the Patriots a fighting chance.  Read through this website carefully and in the comments section explain just exactly why Saratoga stands out as the most important victory for the Patriots.  Was it a Patriot success or a British failure?

22 comments:

  1. The Battle of Saratoga is called the turning point of the war and for good reason. In my opinion, I think the turning point was more about the spirits of the colonial soldiers rather than the status in the war. The colonial army had suffered hard before this battle from the previous loss against the British. This battle gave them hope. It allowed them to envision their overall victory against the British. For many soldiers it gave them the boost they needed to persevere through hard times and remain in the army fighting for their independence. It also gained them the alliance of France.
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  2. On October 7, 1777 the British surrendered at the Battle of Saratoga. The Battle of Saratoga was the most important battle of the war for different reasons. Most importantly, the French became our ally because of this battle. They realized how hard we fought and how important our independence was to us. France decided that we were worth helping. Our new French ally helped us a lot by giving us much needed supplies. The Patriots needed to win a battle and have a victory to be closer to having their independence and freedom from Britain. 86 percent of Burgoyne's army was lost. He had not received some of the help that he had expected, and this only helped the Patriots. This victory that we had at Saratoga was very important because it helped us win the war. (137)

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  3. On October 7, 1777, one of the most key patriot victories took place at Saratoga. This battle was important because the victory boosted the morale of the solders and arose allies for the patriot cause like the French, Spanish, and others. This battle was both a patriot victory and a British failure. This loss for the British showed the patriots that Britain could be defeated with help from British rivals and that they were not as tough as they said they were. It was also a patriot victory because the victory influenced the French and Spanish to help the patriots by giving them military and financial support. It was truly a turning point in the future of America.(117)

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  4. The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point in the war for the Americans. Up to this batlle, The British had a head start. Britian seemed unbeatable. They had the best navy in the world, lots of money, and a population 5.5 million more than the Patriots. The odds of America winning were slim. At the Battle of Saratoga, the Continental army showed their strength. I believe in a way it gave them hope to keep going, knowing that they had a chance. It was also when the French realized they should be allies with them. They put their confidence in them. This became a MAJOR help later when the French sent supplies and help in other battles. I know if I had been on the Americans side, i would have begun to become depressed because of the battles lost before Saratoga, and this would have given me a reason to keep fighting. Just imagine how surprised the British were!(155)

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  5. The Battle of Saratoga was a very important battle for us Americans, because we weren't a very good army. We couldn't fight very well by ourselves, but this war was different. We became allies with the French. This helped our army because of financial and moral support. Just the support we needed to win the war! I think that we probably would have lost the Battle of Saratoga if it wasn't for the ally with the French! So this battle is a very important battle for the Americans! We finally won! With France's help of course. So thank you France!!! (100)

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  6. The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point of the war. The British was unbeatable. They had the best in everything. They had the best navy in the world, larger population, and tons of money. So in reality, the British should have won. They were probably surprised that they didn’t. One reason why the Patriots won was because France was our ally. They had realized that the Patriots fought hard and wanted independence. Because of the French ally, they gave us supplies that we needed. I think the Patriots needed to win this battle, to get their independence. The Battle of Saratoga was a very important battle because it helped us win the war.:) (115)

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  7. My opinion is that a American success would be that they over powered the British and won. A British failure would be that the British made too many bad choices hence loses the battle. In this case I definitely think it was an American success. The Patriots planned this attack and had enough man power to win the Battle of Saratoga. This battle was defiantly the turning point for the American's because this battle caused France openly proclaim their alliance to America. Without the alliances formed after this battle America might not have won the Revolutionary War. This relationship formed between France and America later had significance during World War II when America helped France become free from Nazi occupation.(120)

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  8. The Battle of Saratoga was definately the most important battle of the entire war for both sides. It was important for the Patriots because it made the French decide to become their allies, which they desperately needed, and it was important for the Britsh because it made them realize that there was a chance that they could get beat by the small colonial militias. I think it was both a Patriot success and a British failure, but mainly a British failure. It was an essential victory for the Patriots because if they had not won, France most likely wouldn't have decided to become allies with them, which would probably have resulted in the Patriots losing the Reolutionary War. It was a failure for the British for many reasons. One reason is that about 86 percent of the troops were taken prisoner. Another reason is that after France became the Patriots' allies, it was an uphill battle for the British for the rest of the Reolutionary War. (167)

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  9. One of the major turning point in the war happened on October 7,1777. The Battle of Saratoga was fought, and the Americans won. This gave them hope that they could actually beat the British, and gain their independence. France also relized after this victory that the Americans were serious about gaining their independence. With that they agreed to be allies with them and declare war on Britan. With the French as allies they went on and won many other battles. If America didn't win the Battle of Saratoga they might have never gain the help and hope that they needed to win the Revolutionary War!(106)

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  10. In my opinion i agree in what it said when it said that the battle of Saratoga was a major turning point in the Revolutionary war. The soldiers were considered more important than the war. It was considered a big win for us because we didn't have a professional army at the time. I think this part of the Revolutionary war was a very very important part. It, in my opinion, was an American success. The British just did not see it coming and did not know what they were facing.* just like the Georgia and Alabama game*The battle of Saratoga is super important in the confidence of America.(109)

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  11. The Battle of Saratoga was defiantly one of the key victories for the patriots. It got France on their side. France did a lot of work for the patriots like providing troops and weapons. It also boosted the confidence of the colonists. I would think that some on the people who were loyalists would become Patriots because of this big win. It is hard to tell whether it was a British failure or an American success. Anyone can win at any point. I think it was a colonist’s success because even with poor British planning it took fighting from the Patriots to win. The Battle of Saratoga was defiantly important for the victory of America. (115)

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  12. The battle of Saratoga was a huge turning point in the war. As the article said the victory came at a key time for the Americans. I boosted moral after losing to the British at multiple other battles. The British had over 7,000 total soldiers. The other key thing about Saratoga was with the victory they gained French support. The French would be a key ally and factor in the war for independence. The victory there sent a message to the British saying we are going to win this thing. With that the tides of war had turned in favor of the Americans. (103)

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  13. Attacking New York and cutting them off from the other colonies was a good idea. There were just too many things that happened that prevented the British from winning this war. One thing that happened was that Sir William Howe attacked Philadelphia instead of cutting off New England. That ensued that their supplies were becoming less reliable. Another occurrence was that General John Burgoyne sent Hessians to retrieve a supply depot, but they were captured by John Stark. A good idea of the Americans was that they burned down all of the crops ahead of Burgoyne and his army and made them rely on their supplies that were getting unreliable. If the Red Coats had won this war, then the French would not have sided with the Americans, and the colonies would not have been independent. The little story about Benedict Arnold shows that he was a good guy and not just the traitor that we all remember him by.(160)


    P.S. If you haven’t heard this part, there was a member of the Culper Spy Ring named 35. She is allegedly Margeret “Peggy” Shippen, and Benedict Arnold told her about selling West Point. That is a myth about why Benedict Arnold’s plan did not work.


    P.S. "It was a glorious sight to see the haughty Brittons march out & surrender their arms to an army which but a little before they despised and called paltroons." Alabama is going to march out of the Sun Life Stadium after a loss to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, who everyone said is no match for the Crimson Tide.

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  14. The battle of Saratoga was a milestone for the Americans who were feeling as though they were "on the edge" of suceeding or punishment for their treason. Their resoltion to go on was probably tested by their own judgement: is this worth it? And will we come out as winners or losers? There was most likely a lot of apprehension going around in the army about the upcoming fight at Saratoga. But the Americans took the lead and General John Stark had them surround and capture the 500 Hessians, which turned the tide in the Patriots' favor!(102)

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  15. The battle of Saratoga was a very important fight for the Americans. It’s often thought of as the turning point of the war, because that’s exactly what it was. Imagine how good it must have felt for the Americans to be barely hanging on by a thread, with the British army strong as ever planning numerous effective attacks, and then go win an extremely important battle?! It was definitely a fail for the Brits on this one, because they pretty much planned the entire war, yet when it comes to battle (not to mention the most important one!), they lose to a couple of rag-tag traitors! Americans quite obviously gained a major victory here, completely turning the tables. Seeing this HUGE win for the Americans convinced France to help out, too! Basically, America had it made for the rest of the war. (Super sorry England, I still love you.) (149)

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  16. To me, the battle of saratoga was more of a british failure than a patriot victory. Poor communications and lack of determination from the hessians is what caused the british to falter and be defeated. Had the british been able to correctly set up the "three-pronged attack", then the patriots would not have had a chance. Since the british did falter, the patriots were able to catch the british off guard and defeat them easily. Also I feel that this was a patriot success because this battle is what convinced France and Spain to help the Patriots in the war, but overall, the british seemed to be the reason behind the american's victory.

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  17. The Battle of Saratoga was probably the most important battle in the Revolutionary War. It seemed to more of a British failure mostly because if the British plan would have worked then the British would have most likely won that battle. If that happened then France might have not joined up with the Americans (considering there wasn’t much favor in the Americans winning). Thus, totally changing the outcome of the war. I only see this as the Americans got lucky because if I lived back then, I would have been a loyalist. I mean, the puny little Continental Army vs. the LARGEST navy in the world. What are the odds? (110) But I would have been wrong :/

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  18. The Battle of Saratoga was so crucial to the outcome of the Revolutionary War. I have to say that this was a total British failure. They had a good plan, but they weren't able to fulfill it. The Americans had been suffering, and this battle was able to get them back on their feet again. Without this victory, they could have just decided to lose hope and give up. It also showed France that America did have some fight in them and that they were worth something, which led to an alliance between these two countries. Because of that alliance, many financial and army problems were solved. Just from looking at what the British had and what the Americans had, the British should have crushed the colonists, but the Americans kept on fighting. (133)

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  19. In my opinion the British attack was a failure. It was a good plan, but due to the communication the other two groups did something else than what was planned. The Battle of Saratoga was a huge victory for the colonists. After this nettle the French joined their side and led them to victory over Britain. Imagine if France and Spain didn’t join the side of the colonists; we would have lost the war and not have gained the independence we have today. The idea of having secret coded messages inside their letters was a genius idea. The letter over all could say that the troops are doing fine, but in the coded message it would say that they were having a terrible time and needed help. The article at the bottom of the article changed the view of Benedict Arnold I had. At first I thought he just abandoned the colonies randomly, but instead he did it for love. (160)

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  20. The battle of Saratoga was a miraculous win for the patriots. First of all, this gave the French a strong faith in the patriots in America to send troops over to help. Another thing it was amazing is because this battle (like war itself) was suppose to be a simple victory to the British. But as usual America used her hard working army and leaders and strong urge for freedom to win the battle and get France on the American side of the war. This, as we all know, was a big turning point because France played a HUGE role in the American victory of the Revolutionary War ( 108)

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  21. The battle of Saratoga could possibly be one of the most beneficial wins for the patriots. Had they not won they first of all would not have gotten the much needed support from outside countries. Second, the army would have and low morale. If the fighters have no fight left, then what good are they? Target practice? Lastly, the patriots had not been doing to hot as an army. I know that they must have been ready for the war to be over. Some of them probably wished it hadn't even started in the first place. But as all great people do, the persevered and won the battle of Saratoga. (110)

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  22. The Battle of Saratoga was a very significant battle. The outcome of the whole entire war might have been different if the Americans hadn’t won this battle. The victory of the Americans allowed them to gain more allies like the French. The French thought that the Americans would just crumble under the power of the British. But then again, who wouldn’t? When the Patriots won the Battle of Saratoga, the French saw that we actually might have a chance and gave us a boost. This was huge because the French had tons of supplies the Americans greatly needed. They supplied us with money, more troops, ammunition, etc. I say this battle was a Patriot success, and it truly was the turning point in the war. {125}
    ~1DirectionNiall4eve:)~

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