History
The Amish descend from the Swiss Anabaptists of the early 16th century Radical Reformation. These Swiss Brethren trace their origination to Felix Manz (ca. 1498–1527) and Conrad Grebel (ca.1498-1526) who broke from reformer Huldrych Zwingli.
The Amish movement takes its name from Jakob Ammann (c. 1656 —c. 1730), a Swiss Brethren leader. Ammann believed Mennonites — peaceful Anabaptists of the Low Countries and Germany — were drifting away from the teachings of Menno Simons and the 1632 Mennonite Dordrecht Confession of Faith. Ammann favored stronger church discipline, including a rigid application of shunning, the social exclusion of excommunicated members. Swiss Anabaptists, who were scattered by persecution throughout Alsace and the Palatinate, never practiced strict shunning as had the lowland Anabaptists. Ammann insisted upon this practice, even to the point of expecting spouses to refuse to eat with each other until the banned spouse repented. This strict literalism brought about a division in the Swiss Brethren in 1693 and led to the establishment of the Amish.
Swiss Anabaptism developed, from this point, in two parallel streams. Those following Ammann became known as Amish. The others eventually adopted the Mennonite name and were the basis of the Swiss Mennonite Conference. Because of this common heritage, Amish and Mennonites retain many similarities. Those who leave the Amish fold tend to join conservative Mennonite congregations.
The Amish began migrating to Pennsylvania in the 18th century as part of a larger migration from the Palatinate and neighboring areas. The first Amish immigrants went to Berks County, Pennsylvania, but later moved, motivated by land issues and by security concerns tied to the French and Indian War. Many eventually settled in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Other groups later settled in, or spread to Alabama, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Maryland, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Maine, and Canada.
The Amish congregations left in Europe slowly merged with the Mennonites. The last Amish congregation to merge with the Mennonites was the Ixheim Amish congregation, which merged with the neighboring Mennonite Church in 1937. Some Mennonite congregations, including most in Alsace, are descended directly from former Amish congregations.
Most Amish communities that were established in North America did not ultimately retain their Amish identity. The original major split that resulted in the loss of identity occurred in the 1860s. During that decade Dienerversammlungen (ministerial conferences) were held in Wayne County, Ohio, concerning how the Amish should deal with the pressures of modern society. ] By the first several meetings, the conservative bishops agreed to boycott the conferences. The more progressive members, comprising approximately two thirds of the group, became Amish Mennonite within several decades, and eventually became Mennonite congregations. The traditional group who wanted to preserve the old ways — the Ordnung — became known as the Old Order Amish
