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Cultural Change and Survival in Amish Society
I. Introduction
Watching the Amish riding their horse drawn carriages through Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, you catch a glimpse of how life would have been 150 years ago. The Amish, without their electricity, cars, and television appear to be a static culture, never changing. This, however, is just an illusion. In fact, the Amish are a dynamic culture which is, through market forces and other means, continually interacting with the enormously tempting culture of America. So, one might be led to wonder how a culture like the Amish, one that seems so anachronistic, has not only survived but has grown and flourished while surrounded by a culture that would seem to be so detrimental to its basic ideals. The Amish, through biological reproduction, resistance to outside culture, compromise, and a strong ethnic symbolism have managed to stave off a culture that waits to engulf them. Why study the Amish? One answer would be, of course, to learn about their seemingly pure cooperative society and value system (called Ordung). From this, one may hope to learn how to better America's problem of individualism and lack of moral or ethical beliefs. However, there is another reason to study the Amish. Because the Amish have remained such a large and distinct culture from our own, they provide an opportunity to study the effects of cultural transmission, resistance, and change, as well as the results of strong symbolism in maintaining ethnic and cultural isolation.
II. History of the Amish
The Amish have their roots in the Protestant Reformation of 16th century Europe, led by Martin Luther. Of these Protestant groups one sect was the Anabaptists. The first Anabaptist group was kno...
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...the Amish except for their use of language and plain dress, would not have been distinct from most other 19th century farmers. This in essence allowed for the early survival and establishment of Amish culture in the United States.
References
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Good, Merele and Phyllis. 1979. 20 Most Asked Questions about the
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Hostetler, John A. 1983. Amish Life . Scottdale, Pennsylvania:
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Kraybill, Donald B. 1990. The Puzzles of Amish Life . Intercourse, Pennsylvania: Good Books.
Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia. 1997. Amish . 1993-1996 Microsoft Corporation.
Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center. 1997. Amish FAQ.
http://www.800padutch.com/atfaq.html
In the 1700s, the Amish settled mainly in the Midwest after fleeing persecution in Germany (Rearick, 2003). They are branched off of Christianity and came shortly after the Protestant Reformation (Weyer, Hustey, Rathbun, Armstrong, Reed, Ronyak, & Savrin, 2003).
The Amish religion was started by Jacob Amman as a Mennonite movement, but was originally part of the protestant Anabaptists. Jacob was trying to restore some of the early practices of the Mennonites but was unsuccessful and ended up creating a new religion. The Amish were then persecuted by the Catholics and protestant Christians when in Europe so they took William Penns offering and move...
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