Amish Kinship

The Amish Way of Life
Sherri S. Archer-Taylor
ANT101: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology
Instructor Jason Gonzalez
January 5th 2012

The Amish Way of Life

The Amish way of life has many interesting concepts and unique beliefs that set them apart from any other culture. While some may see the Amish way of life as a cult, there simplistic way of life and their family values and beliefs make them one of the strongest sects in today’s society. To truly understand what the Amish People and their way of life is all about, one needs to know about the origin of the people, their traditions and values, how they sustain themselves in today’s times, their importance and what they give to society today.
The Amish movement came into existence when Jacob Amman founded it in Europe during the late sixteen hundreds. (Robinson 2005) In the eighteenth century the first Amish people migrated to the United States settling primarily in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. There are Amish settlements in as many as 24 states within the United States as well as settlements in Canada. Although many think that Pennsylvania is the largest sect of Amish it really is not. The greatest concentration of Amish is in Holmes and adjoining counties in northeast Ohio, about 100 miles from Pittsburgh. Next in size in the Amish population are Elkhart and surrounding counties in northeastern Indiana, and then the Amish of Pennsylvania (Albrecht Powell 2009). According to Powell (2009) there are as many as one hundred and fifty thousand Amish families in the United States today and that number continues to increase, due to the Amish having large families with as many as seven children born in one family and a member retention rate of at least eighty percent on average. The Amish are usually born into the sect and are members for life. There are not many cases where a member joins at an adult age. Members marry into the life and raise their children as members. Not following the (rules) Ordnung...