Origins

The Amish, like other MENNONITES and the HUTTERITES, trace their origins to the Anabaptist movement that emerged during the Reformation in Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and the Netherlands. Over time, differences in emphasis and practice developed within the movement. The leader of the Amish, Swiss bishop Jacob Ammann, insisted on a more strict church discipline and greater simplicity in dress, but he also introduced several innovations to Swiss congregations, including the holding of communion services twice a year rather than once and the practice of foot-washing as an ordinance in connection with the communion service. Differences between the factions eventually resulted in mutual excommunication and the beginnings of a schism in 1693.

Although there has been some interaction between the groups, the Amish have retained a religious and cultural identity that characterizes them as a distinct branch of the Mennonite denomination. Modern-day Amish in Canada are divided principally between Old Order Amish and the Old Order Mennonites who belong to the Mennonite Conference of Eastern Canada (successor to the Western Ontario Amish Mennonite Conference). Both groups have made accommodations to modern culture, but the Old Order Amish have to a larger degree maintained their traditional cultural and religious practices.

A word of explanation is needed about Old Order Amish and Old Order Mennonites, especially since the latter are also referred to as Amish. Obvious differences between the groups include appearance. Old Order Mennonite men are clean-shaven and use buttons on their clothing; Old Order Amish men have beards and use hooks and eyes in place of buttons. Mennonite women wear print dresses; the Amish wear only plain pastel shades. Old Order Mennonites were influenced in their dress by co-religionists in Pennsylvania; Amish clothing is more traditionally European in style. Mennonites worship in meeting-houses; Old Order Amish still gather in homes and barns. Although they often live in close proximity to each other, the two groups keep their separate identities. They work together only when government policies affect both groups.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries many Swiss Anabaptists migrated to southeastern France, southern Germany, and other parts of Europe to escape severe persecution in Switzerland. They spoke a south German dialect that in North America is often referred to as Pennsylvania Dutch (from Deutsch, German) but that should properly be called Pennsylvania German. In Europe their speech is called Alsatian German. Because they were subject to frequent persecution in the various countries where they lived, the Amish were unable to form permanent settlements. They usually worked as labourers for large landowners, although some became artisans. They were often sought after for their expertise in agriculture, their industriousness, and their honesty. It was their belief in freedom of conscience, voluntary church membership, and pacifism that earned for the Amish the designation “the quiet in the land.”