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Founding of the Amish by Schism
The Amish started out as Mennonites-a branch of Christianity that believes people should only get baptized when they are old enough to choose their faith and want to be baptized. Jakob Amman and some of his followers started disagreeing on issues such as the practice of shunning and frequency of communion which led them to break away from Mennonites and live a more conservative lifestyle. From this point on, they were know as the Amish. -
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Amish strict shunning-definition
"Amish shunning is the use of social exclusion as method used to enforce Amish church rules" (“AMISH SHUNNING,” n.d.). If you joined the Amish church and then chose to leave, you would be shunned. Other Amish members: -May no longer eat at the same table as you. At a wedding or funeral, a person who is shunned has to sit by them self.
-May not do business with you
-May not ride in your car
-Cannot receive anything from you. If you are shunned you cannot give people gifts, money, food, etc. -
First wave of Amish sail to North America
Due to their beliefs of peace and forgiveness, the Amish refused to join the army. They also did not believe in government which caused them to be seen as "troublemakers". Soon, they were forbidden in certain areas of Europe and decided to resettle. The first known significant group of Amish people sailed to North America from Europe. There were 21 families in total on their way to Pennsylvania, which holds the second highest population for Amish people today! (“Where do the Amish live?,” n.d.) -
Second wave of Amish settle in North America
3,000 more adults sail to North America. They travel through the settlements in Pennsylvania but not many stay-many of them end up settling in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Ontario, New York and Ohio. -
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Amish Churches debate
Churches in Wayne County and Holmes County, Ohio and Mifflin County, Pennsylvania debate the appropriateness of stream baptism. Amish churches are faced with controversies over appropriate dress, the degree of separation from civic society, the use of meetinghouses for church services, and the appropriate use of technologies such as lightning rods and photography. -
Amish Ministers' Conference
First all-church Amish ministers' conference (these conferences are also known as Diener-Versammlung) is held in Wayne County, Ohio. Most issues and controversies remain unresolved and conservative factions are angered by a lack of representation. The primary divisions are Old Order Amish and Amish Mennonites. -
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Egly Amish subgroup formed
Feeling displeased with the direction of the annual minister's conferences, the "Egly Amish" was formed under Bishop Henry Egly. This group broke away from the Amish Mennonites, and emphasizes personal experiences of God and His grace. This group incorporates many aspects of popular evangelical movement at the time and was later renamed the Evangelical Mennonite in 1948. -
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Stuckey Amish subgroup formed
The "Stuckey Amish" subgroup was formed under Bishop Joseph Stuckey from McLean County, Illinois. The Stuckey Amish allow excommunicated members of other communities to join, are more relaxed in dress, advocate integration with the outside society, and have the belief that God would save all of humanity regardless of religious affiliation. -
Beachy Amish-Mennonites formed
About 20% of the Old Order Amish in Lancaster, PA break away and form a new Beachey group. They broke away for reasons such as not agreeing with the Old Order's ban on telephones in the home and their strict shunning policy. The Beachey Amish own automobiles, use cameras and computers but still do not own radios or television. They have distinctive dress, and are evangelical in theology and practice. -
Amish schoolhouses shut down
The merging of the Pennsylvania public school system begins. Local one-room schoolhouses are shut down and combined with larger regional school systems. This marks the beginning of the Amish parochial school movement in Pennsylvania. -
Wisconsin V. Yoder
Wisconsin V. Yoder is the highest-profile conflict the Amish have ever been involved in. Old Order Amish and the Conservative Mennonite Amish were convicted of violating Wisconsin's school attendance law which required a child's school attendance until the age of 16 because Amish children stop attending school after 8th grade. The evidence proved that the children had informal vocational education that prepared them for Amish life. They were granted the right to remove their children from school -
Measles outbreak
The Amish Church does not specifically prohibit vaccination, but the personal and cultural beliefs of the Amish limit participation in preventive health care, which results in low immunization rates (Gastañaduy et al., 2016). In March of 2014, two unvaccinated Amish men returned to their communities in the U.S from the Philippines where they unknowingly were infected with measles. There were 383 confirmed cases in Holmes county, and 380 of them were Amish.
