They didn't want to be involved in any (foreign) wars that didn't have anything to do with the United States.
Hopefully this has helped!
The answer in this question is Southern and central China. In the year nineteenth century in China and East Asia it was mainly in Southern and central China. On the graphic that is included in the question the British sphere of influence in the 19th century in East Asia and China was mainly in southern and central China.
Your question is rather vague by just giving dates ... but I think I know what you might be looking for here. During the "antebellum" (before the Civil War) years and again in the years after the Civil War, there were strong movements by social activists that went against how society wanted to keep women and African Americans in "their place." Social reformers thought that the place assigned to women or to blacks was not at all right. They put forward better ideas of how black Americans and female citizens should have equal status with whites and with men in regard to political, social, and economic rights.
The activist movements from 1820 to 1848 and again from 1865 to 1898 didn't achieve all their goals in that time period, but they began to advance the causes of civil rights for blacks and women -- both movements which would continue into the 20th century.