Amish people

Hi guys J

I’m currently studying American culture and I came across the name William Penn. I immediately knew that I have already heard about him. This Englishman is famous for guaranteeing full religious freedom in Pennsylvania about 300 years ago. His attempt became known as the Holy Experiment. I have been writing about Penn in one of my essays for my A-levels. The title of my essay was The Old Order Amish – Living and surviving in the America of the 21^st century. Now the migration chapter of American culture reminded me of this confraternity and so I am going to share my knowledge about the Amish People with you.

(Very) short history

The religious community of the Amish originated in the European Anabaptist Movement of the 16^th century. Many members of this community of faith were forced to immigrate to the US because of religious persecution. There were two waves of migration: one in the 18^th century and one at the beginning of the 19^th century. In those times most settlers decided to locate in Pennsylvania, especially in Berks County, Somerset County and Lancaster County. The probably most important reason for this decision was the Holy Experiment (look above).

How many Amish people are there and where do they live?

In 2008 about 180,000 people belonged to the Amish community. Today there are probably about 250,000. Due to the high birth rate amongst the Amish people, the population doubles all 16 to 20 years on average. The last European Amish commune joined the Mennonites in 1941. So today, there are only Amish communities in North and South America.

Language
Amish people normally learn three languages in the course of a lifetime: Pennsylvania Dutch, a version of standard German and English. Their first language is even today Pennsylvania Dutch, also known as Pennsylvania German. This old German dialect is the standard language inside the family and the community. To give you an example, this is the Lord’s Prayer in Pennsylvania Dutch:

„Unsah Faddah im Himmel, - dei Nohma loss heilich sei, - Dei Reich loss kumma. - Dei Villa loss gedu sei, - uf di Eaht vi im Himmel. - Unsah tayklich Broht gebb uns heit, - Un fagebb unsah Shulda, - vi miah dee fagevva vo uns shuldich sinn. - Un fiah uns naett in di Fasuchung,- avvah hald uns fu’m Eevila. - Fa dei is es Reich, di Graft - un di Hallichkeit in Ayvichkeit. Amen.“

Their second language is High German which is especially used for church services. The bible, as well as other religious scripts, is also read in German. Even though Amish children study German at school, many Amish people are not able to speak this language fluently anymore. They are often only able to use it passively. Their third language is English. This language is normally learnt at school and is needed to communicate with the people outside their community.

Family life

Besides religion, a happy family life is very important for them. The Amish family follows a very strict hierarchical principle. The man is the head of the family. He does fieldwork or works in the in-house company. The woman is responsible for the domestic work as well as for raising the children and selling homemade products. Respect, meekness, pacifism and gratitude are some of their most important characteristics. Old people and children are highly respected by the Amish people. A married couple begets eight children on average. That’s a very high rate.

Well, I realise there is much more to say about them than can be said in one single blog. Let’s say you hopefully got a first picture of Amish life and I am going to continue this blog with topics such as education, clothing and technics soon. If you want to find out more about them in advance, have a look at this video:

Bye for now J