The Aurora History Museum shares the fascinating backstory of the spinning wheel and its powerful role in early America. Invented in India and used in Europe by the 13th century, the spinning wheel became common in the American colonies by the 17th century. During the early days of the American Revolution, women used spinning wheels to produce wool yarn as part of a boycott of British goods, turning an everyday craft into political protest. As one 1769 newspaper noted, the spinning wheel helped shape “the political salvation of a whole continent.”