The correct answer is the US. The History of cotton can be traced to domestication. It played an important role in the history of India, Britain and America. United States was the major source of cotton for the British until 1862. By the late 1850s, cotton grown in United States accounted 77 per cent of the 800 million pounds of cotton consumed in Britain. In 1861, Great Britain found itself highly dependent on the white gold shipped out of New York, New Orleans, Charleston, and other American ports. Thus, we can say that the United States was the major source of cotton for the British until 1862.