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Why is the Battle of Saratoga a turning point in the American Revolution?
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The Battle of Saratoga is considered a turning point in the American Revolution primarily for its diplomatic implications. It was the first truly decisive victory of the Revolutionaries over the British and played a significant role in convincing the French that the American Revolution was a viable cause to support. This resulted in an alliance between the French and the Americans, fundamentally transforming the Revolutionary struggle.
The Battle of Saratoga ranks among the most important turning points of the Revolutionary War, but its greatest importance lies in its diplomatic repercussions, which had the effect of fundamentally transforming the nature of the conflict.
Ultimately, what you must remember is that in the American Revolution, the colonists were at a disadvantage facing the British. They had limited formal military expertise and were facing the British army (note also that the British employed mercenaries as well). Moreover, they had no answer to British naval supremacy. Winning their independence in a sustained military conflict represented an extraordinarily difficult, uphill struggle.
At the same time, however, the American Revolution unfolded within the context of European political rivalries, and the other European powers were watching the Revolution, a fact of which the Revolutionaries themselves were well aware. Nations such as France had a vested interest in seeing the colonies successfully break free...
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from Britain and wished to avenge earlier humiliations against the British. The question was, for them, a matter of viability more than anything else. Did the American Revolution have a real chance at success?
The Battle of Saratoga's importance lay in the way in which it answered that question, as the colonists handed the British a decisive military defeat. In the aftermath of this victory, France would sign a formal alliance with the United States. The entry of another European power radically transformed the picture of the Revolutionary War, in ways that would prove critical in ensuring its success.
The Battle of Saratoga (September-October, 1777) was actually a series of battles that culminated with the surrender of the British force led by General John Burgoyne. Saratoga did indeed prove to be the turning point of the American Revolution. In addition to being the most significant American victory up to that point of the war, eliminating a strong British force in the northern theatre, Saratoga had a greater effect: Both France and Spain sided with the Americans as allies, and the French contribution proved to be an essential element of the colonies' eventual victory over Great Britain.
After first defeating General Horatio Gates' American army at the Battle of Freeman's Farm on September 19, 1777, Burgoyne was defeated at the Battle of Bemis Heights on October 7. Burgoyne was forced to retreat and his army was surrounded by superior American forces at Saratoga on October 17. Following the British surrender, France's King Louis XVI formally joined into an alliance with the Americans, forcing the British to divert troops and resources to other theatres of the war--particularly Europe and the West Indies.
The battle would ruin Burgoyne's military career and make a legitimate hero of one American general--the fearless Daniel Morgan--and temporary heroes of two generals who would later be disgraced: Gates, who would be given command of the Southern army, only to lead it to disastrous defeat at the Battle of Camden; and Benedict Arnold, who would soon become America's most famous turncoat when he later went over to the British side.