The Old Order Amish April 2014 | Page 4

3. Arriving to the US

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3. Arriving to the United States of America

As mentioned above, Anabaptist and any other religious group were welcomed by the Catholic Church in Europe. After the big geographical discoveries around the world, people had the opportunity to migrate to other continents and start a new life without persecution. The Amish left Switzerland and started to migrate to the newly discovered land, America. It offered several advantageous opportunities: living in peace, good climate, cheap land the perfect conditions for farmers’ lifestyle.

The vast majority of Old Order Amish live in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Indiana, but they can also be found in Canada, Central and South America. Most interestingly, there are no Amish in Europe, even though they originate from that continent (Schaefer and Zellner 7).

Amish Farmstead in Ohio