We do this because we try to prove ourselves and let people see we’re “brave” or “outstanding”. Something between those lines
Are you asking when Texas become a state?
I Believe that would be the opium war?
Answer:
Seward refusing to protest Alexander II's destruction of the Polish uprising
Woodrow Wilson's initial apprehesnion at joining WW1
Extra example: Franklin Roosevelt's refusal to overtly join the Allied Powers in early WW2.
