Trail of Tears

Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin late in the 18th century. It greatly reduced the manpower required to harvest the cotton plant.
The first cotton gin was invented in India during the 5th century, there is proof of this in the Ajanta caves.

There is controversy over who invented the key element of the cotton gin, the wire hooks. Katherine Greene supporters cite the claim of a friend of a friend of the plantation foreman. While Whitney supporters, like myself, cite a letter to the editor of Southern Agriculturist magazine, whose author heard from shadowy sources that Whitney had asked Greene for a pin to experiment with at the start of his efforts. There is also the claim that Eli Whitney got the idea from some African slaves working on the plantation, and he just mechanized it. Nevertheless, Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin in 1714, and is given the credit of inventing the cotton gin.

Also, green cotton was the only cotton that could survive in most of the south, and cotton gins are not used to hold the cotton, they only separate the seed from the cotton fibers. There was also another cotton gin in between Eli Whitney's and the single-roller cotton gin in China and India. It was called the double-roller cotton gin, invented during the medieval period.

Ultimately, what is historically verifiable is that Whitney received the patent for the version of the cotton gin which revolutionized cotton production. As to who came up with which idea, and when, it's been the subject of any number of very sketchily supported claims for generations.
The first cotton gin was invented in India during the 5th century, there is proof of this in the Ajanta caves.

There is controversy over who invented the key element of the cotton gin, the wire hooks. Katherine Greene supporters cite the claim of a friend of a friend of the plantation foreman. While Whitney supporters, like myself, cite a letter to the editor of Southern Agriculturist magazine, whose author heard from shadowy sources that Whitney had asked Greene for a pin to experiment with at the start of his efforts. There is also the claim that Eli Whitney got the idea from some African slaves working on the plantation, and he just mechanized it. Nevertheless, Eli Whitney patented the cotton gin in 1714, and is given the credit of inventing the cotton gin.

Also, green cotton was the only cotton that could survive in most of the south, and cotton gins are not used to hold the cotton, they only separate the seed from the cotton fibers. There was also another cotton gin in between Eli Whitney's and the single-roller cotton gin in China and India. It was called the double-roller cotton gin, invented during the medieval period.

Ultimately, what is historically verifiable is that Whitney received the patent for the version of the cotton gin which revolutionized cotton production. As to who came up with which idea, and when, it's been the subject of any number of very sketchily supported claims for generations.