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Long Travel for Burgoyne Leads to American Success Today is New York- December 1780 Date: October 17, 1777 Reporters: Dasha Ryabogin, Madison Proctor

Recently, our country was involved in an extremely important battle. Dear readers, the Battle of Saratoga seems to be an extreme turning point in American history. It caused the rebirth of an entire nation, and boosted spirits with extreme force. Similar to the Italian Renaissance in its ability to create new wonderful and helpful ideas, this war benefited our country mightily. The battle started with General John Burgoyne marching his troops toward Saratoga, New York. He encountered many obstacles and hardships caused by the American Militia. After arriving in Saratoga, a battle ensued. On October 17, 1777, Burgoyne surrendered his troops, ending in American victory. Though this battle forced America to make many sacrifices, so far, it has benefited everyone.

Many different people and groups were involved in this Battle. British General and member of parliment, John Burgoyne thought up the whole plan. Native Americans then guided his troops through the harsh woods. Colonal Barry St. Ledger was an added army leader that traveled the St. Lawrence River. William Howe was also part of the plan and he traveled the Hudson River. While all of this took place the American Militia was preparing for the attack.

The british wanted to destroy the American Rebellion they sent General John Burgoyne out to capture Albany, New York in hopes that they then could capture the head of the hudson river. They then would have control of the whole river. This would make it possible to surprise New England Colonies from the others. It would then weaken the colonies and british would have control again. Rebels created obstacles alond the way to slow down British Trops. Burgoynes Army eventually to run low on provisions and after rationing food to 1/3, they had to surrender.

The dates of important decisions in battle were interesting, too. In the Spring of 1777, Burgoyne created a plan to isolate New York.The British concoted this plan in hopes of seperating tehe colonies and making them weak. After weakening colonies, they would be in control again. But, the Americans fought back and slowed down the British. In theory, the british should have won because of prior training and weapons. But the american militia still managed to win. On September 19th ,1777, Burgoyne attacked Gates. He also led his troops to Bernis Heights and met a tough counter-attack by Arnold on October 7th. Ten days later, General John Burgoyne surrendered his troops. An American Naval fighter is quite famous for his strong determination and thoughts, John Paul Jones, taunted back with, "I have not yet begun to fight!" in one of his battles. Though he did not fight in the Battle of Saratoga, we asked him for his feelings on the war. In an interview with him, his thoughts on the battle explained that though the battle was not long compared to others, the American preparations and clever station by the river certainly paid off.

"If fear is cultivated it will become stronger; if faith is cultivated it will achieve mastery." Jones says.

In the Battle of Saratoga, the position and location of the different sides was extremely important. General John Burgoyne recaptured Fort Ticonderoga and sent his troops down into Vermont. He created a plan to isolate New York from the rest of the colonies. In the Battle of Bennington, many British were hurt, and St. Leger was defeated. Later, the American army established itself among the Hudson River at a place called Bernis Heights. It was very clever in its spot, and at the Village of Saratoga, the Americans surrounded the British. The British surrendered the the same place, leading to the victory and rebirth of an entire nation.

The Battle of Saratoga was the turning point in American history. It caused the rebirth of a nation, and it boosted spirits mightily. Because St. Leger's forces were defeated, it disheartened Burgoyne's troops and followers and rallied local support. All of this led to the clever hiding station of the American army along the ricer; it was the food and water source of the opposing side. "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately," says Benjamin Franklin. His words spoke the truth. In times of need, nations need to stick together in war, even if they are unsure of the outcome. Allies work together to achieve a common goal, and in this case, it helped us strongly. Because of its victorious end, this battle changed the War of the North, rapidly made America a much more successful place afterwards, and America has new supporting countries like France.