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Revolts in Europe.
Many
Mennonites and Amish were driven into exile in
Europe during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
and were forced to adapt new agricultural practices to
cultivate the unproductive, mountainous lands into
which they were driven. Forced to adapt, the Amish
and Mennonites developed new methods of planting and fertilizing, becoming skilled farmers. -
Separation between Amish and Mennonites
The Amish, originally Mennonite themselves, broke away from the latter group
due to religious differences and created their own movement. Named after the
Mennonite leader in Switzerland, Jakob Ammon, the Amish committed themselves
to a pure and simple lifestyle (no technology, no car ...), and would
excommunicate (shun) any members who did not uphold Amish beliefs or
conduct themselves according to Amish practice. -
religious persecution
The Amish, a protestant sect that was part of the larger Anabaptist movement, first
came to America in the 1700s following violent religious persecution in their native European homelands. -
The Amish: new group even more radical = never uses the modern world technologies.
Though they were surrounded by other cultural groups, the Amish
were able to preserve their unique cultural heritage including
the German language, agricultural practice, and craftsmanship,
primarily through maintaining a close knit, isolated community
that banned marriage with “outsiders.” In the late eighteenth and
early nineteenth century the Amish began migrating to Ohio from
Pennsylvania, Canada, Maryland, and Virginia. -
And today...
The Amish are still keeping their old-fashioned way of living.
