Why did the Amish and the Mennonites immigrate to America?

Answer 1

They came to William penn's colony of Pennsylvania originally beginning in the late 1600's. Pennsylvania, unlike other british colonies, offered religious freedom for all and not just for the original settlers. Pennsylvania was founded by William penn as a quaker colony, but all were welcomed. The Quakers (or" society of friends" or just "friends" as they refer to themselves) came from England.

Answer 2

The Protestant Reformation, famously started by Martin Luther when he nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Wittenburg Cathedral on October 31, 1517, was not a single-headed event. Not everyone followed exactly in Luther's footsteps in his reaction to the Roman Catholic Church's long-standing abuses. Luther was primarily angered by the RC policy of selling indulgences (Get Out of Purgatory dispensations that cost the believers a lot of money that was then used to finance numerous RC projects, including St. Peter's Basilica), because his reading of The Bible led him to believe that a loving God wouldn't allow anyone to stay out of heaven unnecessarily, and God certainly wouldn't need to be bribed to exercise mercy, and it was only after Pope Leo X refused to concede and demanded that Luther recant his supposed heresies that Luther got hardnosed and burned the papal bull of excommunication, effectively setting up his own alternative to the Roman Catholic orthodoxy. However, the Lutheran Church (as it came to be known, much to Luther's chagrin) didn't separate itself in practice from a great many of the Roman Catholic practices; it removed only two of the seven sacraments, for example. Most importantly, Luther didn't alienate the political powers-that-be of his time, famously keeping the Elector of Saxony's affections and, therefore, his own life--long enough to translate the Bible into German and get married and live a long and happy life. Luther knew that you don't bite any hand that feeds you. Having bitten the papacy, he needed to find another sponsor and many of the princes of the Holy Roman Empire were happy to oblige, given that the new brand of Christian belief allowed them to cancel any tithing to Rome, which was just another diocese in the new Protestant perspective.

Meanwhile, other theologians were conducting the same sort of scrupulous examination of Scripture that Luther had and were arriving at even more heretical conclusions than he had done. One of the three fundamental tenets of Lutheran reform was the idea of "the priesthood of believers," which means that all men--from prince to peasant--are, in the eyes of God, equal in faith. As far as Christian faith is concerned, Luther said, there is no hierarchy. Some Protestant reformers took that idea and questioned the political and social hierarchies as well, concluding that a man had to choose God and his faith over allegiance to any secular institutions, including kingdoms. Many of these believers--loosely categorized as Anabaptists because they refused the legitimacy of infant baptism--considered their political lords to be in conflict with their religious Lord and, as a result, refused to pay taxes or meet their socio-economic obligations. Thousands were killed by both Roman Catholic and Lutheran opponents for their heretical and treasonous conscientious objections. In response to their deep-seated beliefs that they were to choose whom they should serve--God or man--and also that they should live in the world but not be of the world, the followers of Jakob Hutter and Menno Simons, among others, fled Europe and set up independent communities-in-exile in the New World.

Hutterite and Mennonite communities continue to this day, of course, but they adhere to the orthodoxy of their forebears to different degrees. While Mennonites don't have a problem with driving cars and wearing colored clothing, Hutterites consider these to be "hochmod"--proud and ostentatious and unbecoming to a properly subservient Christian believer. However, both Hutterites and Mennonites consider that big government is inherently dangerous. Neither church sanctions military conscription because they believe it's an individual's responsibility to respect God's gifts and no secular institution can order a man to take another's life, which is now respected as grounds for conscientious objection in refusing to be drafted for military service.

Answer 3

The Amish came to US because of Religion Freedom.
For Religious Freedom

Answer 4

The Amish came to America from Europe seeking religious freedom. The Amish first appeared in America in the early 1700's.

Answer 5

Religious freedom

Answer 6

For Religious Freedom.

Answer 7

for free religion