LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Amish: Amish America
built 257 days ago
Author Steven Nolt estimates that about 500 Amish had migrated to Pennsylvania during the 18th century. Most had large families. However, the attrition rate was so high that by the year 1800, there were fewer than 1,000 Amish in America. 1
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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. The meetings themselves were a progressive idea; that bishops should get together to discuss uniformity was an unprecedented notion in the Amish church. By the first several meetings, the conservative bishops agreed to boycott the Dienerversammlungen. Thus, the more progressive Amish within several decades became Amish Mennonite, and were then later absorbed into the Old Mennonites (not to be confused with Old Order Mennonites).
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Searching for political stability and religious freedom, the Amish came to North America in two waves—in the mid-1700s and again in the first half of the 1800s. Their first settlements were in southeastern Pennsylvania. Eventually they followed the frontier to other counties in Pennsylvania, then to Ohio, Indiana, and to other Midwestern states. Today Amish settlements are primarily located in the mid-Atlantic and the Midwest regions of the United States. Very few Amish live west of the Mississippi or in the deep south. In Europe, the last Amish congregation dissolved about 1937.
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The Front Room--The Old Order Amish of Lancaster County hold church services in their homes. In this room, the wooden benches are arranged in preparation for an Amish service. When and why did the Amish come to America? Why do they hold services in their homes? Why and how does their religion play such a major role in their lifestyle? Learn these answers and many other aspects of religious life on your tour!
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The Amish began emigrating to North America early in the 18th century; they first settled in eastern Pennsylvania, where a large settlement remains. Schism and disruption occurred after 1850 because of tensions between the “new order” Amish, who accepted social change and technological innovation, and the “old order,” or traditional, Amish, who largely did not. During the next 50 years, about two-thirds of the Amish formed separate, small churches of their own or joined either the Mennonite Church or the General Conference Mennonite Church.
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The Amish are united by a common Swiss-German ancestry, language, and culture, and they marry within the Amish community. The Amish therefore meet the criteria of an ethnic group. However, the Amish themselves generally use the term only to refer to accepted members of their church community, and not as an ethnic designation. Those who do not choose to live an Amish lifestyle and join the church are no longer considered Amish, just as those who live the plain lifestyle but are not baptized into the Amish Church are not Amish. Certain Mennonite churches were formerly Amish congregations. In fact, although more Amish immigrated to America in the 19th century than during the 18th century, most Amish today descend primarily from 18th century immigrants, since the Amish immigrants of the 19th century were more liberal and most of their communities eventually lost their Amish identity.[2]
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Amish America