Amish
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the Old Order Amish, and only marginally other Amish groups. For other uses, see Amish (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Amis people.
Amish
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An Amish family riding in a traditional Amish buggy in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
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| Total population |
350,665
(2020, Old Order Amish)[1] |
| Founder |
| Jakob Ammann |
| Regions with significant populations |
United States (large populations in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania; notable populations in Kentucky, Missouri, Michigan, New York, and Wisconsin; small populations in various other states)
Canada (mainly in Ontario, and Prince Edward Island) |
| Religions |
| Anabaptist |
| Scriptures |
| The Bible |
| Languages |
| Pennsylvania German, Bernese German, Low Alemannic Alsatian German, Amish High German, English |
| Part of a series on |
| Anabaptism |
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Dirk Willems (picture) saves his pursuer. This act of mercy led to his recapture, after which he was burned at the stake near Asperen (etching from Jan Luyken in the 1685 edition of Martyrs Mirror).
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Background
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Distinctive doctrines
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Documents
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Key people
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Largest groups
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Related movements
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The Amish (/ˈɑːmɪʃ/; Pennsylvania German: Amisch; German: Amische) are a group of traditionalist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian Anabaptist origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churches. The Amish are known for simple living, plain dress, Christian pacifism, and slowness to adopt many conveniences of modern technology, with a view to not interrupt family time, nor replace face-to-face conversations whenever possible.
The history of the Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Mennonite Anabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann.[2] Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish.[3] In the second half of the 19th century, the Amish divided into Old Order Amish and Amish Mennonites. The latter do not eschew motor cars, whereas the Old Order Amish retained much of their traditional culture. When people refer to the Amish today, they normally refer to the Old Order Amish.
In the early 18th century, many Amish and Mennonites immigrated to Pennsylvania for a variety of reasons. Today, the Old Order Amish, the New Order Amish, and the Old Beachy Amish as well as Old Order Mennonites continue to speak Pennsylvania German, also known as "Pennsylvania Dutch", although two different Alemannic dialects are used by Old Order Amish in Adams and Allen counties in Indiana.[4]