1780 in the United States

Incumbents

• President of the Second Continental Congress: Samuel Huntington

  Events

January–March

• January 16 - American Revolutionary War - Battle of Cape St. Vincent: British Admiral Sir George Rodney defeats a Spanish fleet.
• February 3 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Young's House
• March 1- Pennsylvania is the first American state to abolish slavery.
• March 29–May 12 - American Revolutionary War: Siege of Charleston

  April–June

• April 14 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Monck's Corner
• May 6 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Lenud's Ferry
• May 12 - American Revolutionary War: Charleston, South Carolina is taken by British forces.
• May 13 - Cumberland Compact signed by American settlers in the Cumberland Valley of Tennessee.
• May 19 - New England's Dark Day: An unaccountable darkness spreads over New England, regarded by some observers as a fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
• May 25–August 4 - American Revolutionary War: Bird's invasion of Kentucky
• May 29 - American Revolutionary War: Waxhaw Massacre: Loyalist forces under Col. Banastre Tarleton kill surrendering American soldiers.
• June 7 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Connecticut Farms
• June 10 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Mobley's Meeting House
• June 20 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Ramsour's Mill
• June 23 - American Revolutionary War - Battle of Springfield: The American victory at Springfield effectively ends British ambitions in New Jersey.

  July–September

• July 11 - Expédition Particulière: French soldiers arrive in Newport, Rhode Island to reinforce colonists in the American Revolutionary War.
• July 12 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Williamson's Plantation
• July 21 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Colson's Mill
• August 1 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Rocky Mount
• August 6 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Hanging Rock
• August 8 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Piqua
• August 16 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Camden: British troops inflict heavy losses on a Patriot army at Camden, South Carolina.
• August 18
• *American Revolutionary War: Battle of Fishing Creek
• *American Revolutionary War: Battle of Musgrove Mill
• August 28 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Black Mingo
• September 21
• *American Revolutionary War: Battle of Wahab's Plantation
• *Benedict Arnold gives detailed plans of West Point to Major John André. Three days later, André is captured with papers revealing that Arnold was planning to surrender West Point to the British.
• September 25 - Benedict Arnold flees to British-held New York.
• September 26 - American Revolutionary War: Battle of Charlotte

  October–December

• October 2 - American Revolutionary War: In Tappan, New York, British spy John André is hanged by American forces.
• October 7 - American Revolutionary War - Battle of Kings Mountain: Patriot militia forces annihilate a Loyalists under British Major Patrick Ferguson at Kings Mountain in South Carolina.
• October 16 - American Revolutionary War - Royalton Raid
• October 17 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Shallow Ford
• October 19 - American Revolutionary War - Battle of Klock's Field
• October 25 – American Revolutionary War – Battle of Tearcoat Swamp
• November 9 - American Revolutionary War - Battle of Fishdam Ford
• November 20 - American Revolutionary War - Battle of Blackstock's Farm

Undated

• Woodford Reserve bourbon whiskey distillery begins operation in Kentucky.

  Ongoing

• American Revolutionary War

  Births

• January 14 - Henry Baldwin, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. from 1830 to 1844
• January 30 - Israel Pickens, U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1821 to 1825
• February 1 - David Porter, naval officer
• February 19 - Richard McCarty, politician
• March 6 - Lucy Barnes, religious writer
• March 20 - Thomas Metcalfe, U.S. Senator from Kentucky from 1848 to 1849
• March 25 - Joseph Ritner, politician
• April 4 - Edward Hicks, painter
• April 7 - William Ellery Channing, influential Unitarian theologian and minister
• May 1 - John McKinley, U.S. Senator from Alabama from 1826 to 1831 and in 1837; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the U.S. from 1837 to 1852
• June 21 - Martin D. Hardin, U.S. Senator from Kentucky from 1816 to 1817
• July 9 - Ephraim Bateman, U.S. Senator from New Jersey from 1826 to 1829
• August 20 - William Woodbridge, Governor of Michigan from 1840 to 1841 and U.S. Senator from Michigan from 1841 to 1847
• August 29 - Richard Rush, U.S. Attorney General under James Madison; U.S. Secretary of the Treasury under John Q. Adams
• September 8 - George Troup, U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1816 to 1818 and from 1829 to 1833
• October 17 - Richard Mentor Johnson, U.S. Senator from Kentucky from 1819 to 1829 and 9th Vice President of the United States from 1837 to 1841
• October 22 - John Forsyth, U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1818 to 1819 and from 1829 to 1834
• October 25
• * Philip Hone, Mayor of New York City from 1826 to 1827
• * Freeman Walker, U.S. Senator from Georgia from 1819 to 1821
• November 8 - Samuel A. Foote, Governor of Connecticut from 1834 to 1835; U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1827 to 1833
• December 31 - Gideon Tomlinson, U.S. Senator from Connecticut from 1831 to 1837
• William Cardell, grammarian and story writer for boys

  Deaths

• January 31 - Jonathan Carver, explorer
• June 3 - Thomas Hutchinson, last governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony
• August 19 - Johann de Kalb, Franconian-French major general in the Continental Army, mortally wounded in Battle of Camden
• September 8 - Enoch Poor, brigadier general in the Continental Army
• October 2 - John André, British Army officer, hanged as a spy by the Continental Army
• Joseph Green, poet, satirist and clergyman