The Battle of Saratoga was the 1777 American victory that persuaded France to formally ally with the colonies during the founding era remembered by America250.
The Saratoga campaign took place in New York, culminating in British General John Burgoyne’s surrender to American forces under General Horatio Gates on October 17, 1777. The victory demonstrated that the American rebellion had a serious chance of succeeding.
France had already provided covert aid, but Saratoga encouraged an open alliance. The United States and France signed the Treaty of Alliance and the Treaty of Amity and Commerce in 1778. French military, naval, and financial support later played a major role in the campaign at Yorktown.
Saratoga is sometimes overshadowed by Yorktown, which came later and produced the war’s decisive final major surrender. Monmouth and Camden were separate 1778 battles and did not trigger France’s formal alliance with the United States.