Amish are people from an old religious sect in America.
They descend from the early European Anabaptists of the 16th century.
The Amish first settled near Lancaster County in Pennsylvania, America in 1730s.
This was prompted by the activities of an English Quaker called William Penn and the unstable condition in Europe at the time.
William Penn acquired land near Lancaster County in 1681 and decided to establish a holy colony that would advocate religious torelance.
The political and economical instability as well as religious persecutions in Europe caused a mass exodus to the land of religious tolerance.
The biggest immigration of Amish to America took place between 1736 and 1770.
Among the first families were the Detweiler and Sieber who settled in Berks County, Pennsylvania.
The Amish have settled in twenty-four states across Canada and Central America.
About eighty per cent of the Amish are located in Ohio; Indiana and Pennslyvania.
The Amish population in America has grown tremendously over the years.
It today stands at about a hundred and fifty thousand people.
The Anabaptist religion rejected the Martin Luther and Protestant reforms of the 16th century.
They also taught the new doctrine of separation of church and state.
They fled to remote areas of Europe to escape persecution.
This group fragmented in the late 1600 forming a new outfit of devout Christians who challenged shunning of dissident members.
They did not agree on foot washing and custom clothe regulation.
This group marked the birth of the present day Amish.
The Amish religion is further divided into eight churches or orders that are differentiated by their ways of practicing religion and conducting their daily lives.
The Amish are generally farmers.
They live by the dictates of Ordnung that is a set of written or oral rules.