Figure 1.--The photo depicts a Mennonite boy in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Rge Amish might be considered a dect of the Mennoinites. Like the Amish, the Mennonites wear plain clothes, but they are less strict about clothing than the Amish. This boy wears wears blue jeans and shirt like other kids his age. As with the Amish, Mennonite children often go barefoot.

Religious persecution in Europe drove the Mennonites to America, This was essentially the same process that earlier brought the Puritans to America. America at the time was not a utopia of religious toleration. But on the frontier, religious orthodoxy was difficult to enforce and civil authority was weak. And the new colony of Pennsylvania ws fonded by a Quaker and was where the idea of religious toleration began to develop. The Mennonites settled areas of eastern Pennsylvania. One in America, the New World the Mennonites branched into several factions. The (Old) Mennonite Church is the parent group and continues to be the largest group. Smaller groups include the General Conference Mennonite Church and the Mennonite Brethren Church. The first Pennsylvania colony was at Germantown (1683). The best known Memmonite group in America is the Amish. The Amish are one of the Mennite groups in Pennsylvania. The Amish are a religious group who live in settlements in 22 states and Ontario, Canada. The oldest group of Old Order Amish, about 16-18,000 people live in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The Amish stress humility, family and community, and separation from the world. Other Mennite colonies were established in Ohio and other mid-Western states. The Amish Church, named for Jacob Ammann, a 17th century Swiss Mennonite bishop, remains particularly insular and conservative. The Old Order Amish reject much, but not all of modern technology in both their personal lives and farming. They wear plain ans what are nmow seen as old fashioned clothing which use hooks and eyes as dastners instead of more modern buttons. They worship in private homes. They at sirst spoke German, but bow speak a kind of German-English amalgam which curiously is called Pennsylvania Dutch. (This is a coruption of the German word Deutsch.) The Mennonite churches every 6 years at the Mennonite World Conference. Most American Mennonites are found primarily in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Kansas. There are also substantial numbers of Mennonites also live in Canada.

Created: 8:20 AM 1/23/2016
Last updated: 11:57 PM 5/24/2020