<P> Breaking loose from European models, the Americans developed their own high culture, notably in literature and in higher education . The Second Great Awakening brought revivals across the country, forming new denominations and greatly increasing church membership, especially among Methodists and Baptists . By the 1840s increasing numbers of immigrants were arriving from Europe, especially British, Irish, and Germans . Many settled in the cities, which were starting to emerge as a major factor in the economy and society . </P> <P> The Whigs had warned that annexation of Texas would lead to a crisis over slavery, and they were proven right by the turmoil of the 1850s that led to the Civil War . </P> <P> George Washington, a renowned hero of the American Revolutionary War, commander of the Continental Army, and president of the Constitutional Convention, was unanimously chosen as the first President of the United States under the new U.S. Constitution . All the leaders of the new nation were committed to republicanism, and the doubts of the Anti-Federalists of 1788 were allayed with the passage of a Bill of Rights as the first ten amendments to the Constitution in 1791 . </P> <P> The first census, conducted by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, enumerated a population of 3.9 million, with a density of 4.5 people per square mile of land area . There were only 12 cities of more than 5,000 population, as the great majority of the people were farmers . </P>

What was the first form of government of the u.s. after the revolutionary war