They feared that this would diminish the power they had experienced up to that point. This loss of political power would mean many things in this time of trying to find a true national identity. The expansion of the United States would ultimately prove beneficial to the current states and the lands that would be colonized. This is not to say that everything went smoothly and without difficulty, but the result would have turned out to be advantageous. There were others who opposed the Louisiana Purchase because of the effect it might have on the relationship with Great