The Spinning Jenny The Spinning Jenny was very important to the history of America. It was used on cotton farms to speed up the process of making cotton. It was also a symbol, because it was used in the time of slavery. Without it making cotton took much longer to make. It also cut down of the number of slaves that where used. The spinning jenny was used to take the small seeds out of the cotton to get it ready to be bleached. or colored later on in history. James Hargreaves was born in Oswaldtwistle, England in 1720, he received no education and he was never taught how to read or write. James Hargreaves worked as a carpenter and a weaver. Jenny was rumored to have been the name of Hargreaves wife and that is why he named his invention