Air pollution is an example of an exposure that has been linked with negative health outcomes.
Environmental epidemiology is a branch of epidemiology concerned with determining how environmental exposures impact human health.
This field seeks to understand how various external risk factors may
predispose to or protect against disease, illness, injury, developmental
abnormalities, or death. These factors may be naturally occurring or
may be introduced into environments where people live, work, and play.
Scope
The World Health Organization
European Centre for Environment and Health (WHO-ECEH) claims that 1.4
million deaths per year in Europe alone are due to avoidable
environmental exposures.
Environmental exposures can be broadly categorized into those that are
proximate (e.g., directly leading to a health condition), including
chemicals, physical agents, and microbiologicalpathogens, and those that are distal (e.g., indirectly leading to a health condition), such as socioeconomic conditions, climate change, and other broad-scale environmental changes.
Proximate exposures occur through air, food, water, and skin contact.
Distal exposures cause adverse health conditions directly by altering
proximate exposures, and indirectly through changes in ecosystems and
other support systems for human health.
Environmental epidemiology research can inform government policy
change, risk management activities, and development of environmental
standards. Vulnerability
is the summation of all risk and protective factors that ultimately
determine whether an individual or subpopulation experiences adverse
health outcomes when an exposure to an environmental agent occurs.
Sensitivity is an individual’s or subpopulation’s increased
responsiveness, primarily for biological reasons, to that exposure. Biological sensitivity may be related to developmental stage, pre-existing medical conditions, acquired factors, and genetic factors.
Socioeconomic factors also play a critical role in altering
vulnerability and sensitivity to environmentally mediated factors by
increasing the likelihood of exposure to harmful agents, interacting
with biological factors that mediate risk, and/or leading to differences
in the ability to prepare for or cope with exposures or early phases of
illness. Populations living in certain regions may be at increased risk
due to location and the environmental characteristics of a region.
History
Acknowledgement that the environment impacts human health can be found as far back as 460 B.C. in Hippocrates' essay On Airs, Waters, and Places.
In it, he urges physicians to contemplate how factors such as drinking
water can impact the health of their patients. Another famous example of
environment-health interaction is the lead poisoning experienced by the ancient Romans, who used lead in their water pipes and kitchen pottery. Vitruvius, a roman architect, wrote to discourage the use of lead pipes, citing health concerns:
"Water conducted through earthen pipes is more wholesome
than that through lead; indeed that conveyed in lead must be injurious,
because from it white lead is obtained, and this is said to be injurious
to the human system. Hence, if what is generated from it is pernicious,
there can be no doubt that itself cannot be a wholesome body. This may
be verified by observing the workers in lead, who are of a pallid
colour; for in casting lead, the fumes from it fixing on the different
members, and daily burning them, destroy the vigour of the blood; water
should therefore on no account be conducted in leaden pipes if we are
desirous that it should be wholesome. That the flavour of that conveyed
in earthen pipes is better, is shewn at our daily meals, for all those
whose tables are furnished with silver vessels, nevertheless use those
made of earth, from the purity of the flavour being preserved in them"
John Snow's map of the London cholera outbreak. Cases of cholera are designated by black rectangles, and water pumps are also marked.
Generally considered to be the father of epidemiology, John Snow
conducted perhaps the first environmental epidemiology study in 1854.
He showed that London residents who drank sewage-contaminated water were
more likely to develop cholera than those who drank clean water.
U.S. government regulation
Throughout
the 20th century, the United States Government passed legislation and
regulations to address environmental health concerns. A partial list is
below.
Table of Selected U.S. Laws Relating to Environmental Health
The precautionary principle
is a concept in the environmental sciences that if an activity is
suspected to cause harm, we should not wait until sufficient evidence of
that harm is collected to take action.
It has its roots in German environmental policy, and was adopted in
1990 by the participants of the North-Sea Conferences in The Hague by
declaration. In 2000, the European Union began to formally adopt the precautionary principle into its laws as a Communication from the European Commission.
The United States has resisted adoption of this principle, citing
concerns that unfounded science could lead to obligations for expensive
control measures, especially as related to greenhouse gas emissions.
Investigations
Observational studies
Environmental epidemiology studies are most frequently observational in nature, meaning researchers look at people's exposures to environmental factors without intervening and then observe the patterns that emerge. This is due to the fact that it is often unethical or unfeasible to conduct an experimental study of environmental factors in humans. For example, a researcher cannot ask some of their study subjects to smoke cigarettes
to see if they have poorer health outcomes than subjects who are asked
not to smoke. The study types most often employed in environmental
epidemiology are:
Epidemiologic studies that assess how an environmental exposure and a health outcome may be connected use a variety of biostatistical approaches to attempt to quantify the relationship. Risk assessment
tries to answer questions such as "How does an individual's risk for
disease A change when they are exposed to substance B?," and "How many
excess cases of disease A can we prevent if exposure to substance B is
lowered by X amount?"
Some statistics and approaches used to estimate risk are:
To differentiate between correlation and causation,
epidemiologists often apply a set of criteria to determine the
likelihood that an observed relationship between an environmental
exposure and health consequence is truly causal. In 1965, Austin Bradford Hill
devised a set of postulates to help him determine if there was
sufficient evidence to conclude that cigarette smoking causes lung
cancer.
These criteria are generally considered to be a guide to scientists,
and it is not necessary that all of the criteria be met for a consensus
to be reached.
Artificial insemination may employ assisted reproductive technology, sperm donation and animal husbandry techniques. Artificial insemination techniques available include intracervical insemination and intrauterine insemination.
The beneficiaries of artificial insemination are women who desire to
give birth to their own child who may be single, women who are in a lesbian relationship or women who are in a heterosexual relationship but with a male partner who is infertile
or who has a physical impairment which prevents full intercourse from
taking place. Intracervical insemination (ICI) is the easiest and most
common insemination technique and can be used in the home for
self-insemination without medical practitioner assistance. Compared with natural insemination
(i.e., insemination by sexual intercourse), artificial insemination can
be more expensive and more invasive, and may require professional
assistance.
The first recorded case of artificial insemination was John Hunter in 1790, who helped impregnate a linen draper's wife. The first reported case of artificial insemination by donor occurred in 1884: Dr. William H. Pancoast, a professor in Philadelphia, took sperm from his "best looking" student to inseminate an anesthetized woman. The case was reported 25 years later in a medical journal. The sperm bank
was developed in Iowa starting in the 1920s in research conducted by
University of Iowa medical school researchers Jerome Sherman and Raymond
Bunge.
In the 1980s, direct intraperitoneal insemination (DIPI) was
occasionally used, where doctors injected sperm into the lower abdomen
through a surgical hole or incision, with the intention of letting them
find the oocyte at the ovary or after entering the genital tract through
the ostium of the fallopian tube.
General
The
sperm used in artificial insemination may be provided by either the
woman's husband or partner (partner sperm) or by a known or anonymous
sperm donor.
If the procedure is successful, the woman will conceive and carry
a baby to term in the normal manner. A pregnancy resulting from
artificial insemination is no different from a pregnancy achieved by
sexual intercourse. In all cases of artificial insemination, the
recipient woman will be the biological mother of any child produced, and
the male whose sperm is used will be the biological father.
There are multiple methods used to obtain the semen necessary for
artificial insemination. Some methods require only men, while others
require a combination of a male and female. Those that require only men
to obtain semen are masturbation or the aspiration of sperm by means of a
puncture of the testicle and epididymus. Methods of collecting semen
that involve a combination of a male and female include interrupted
intercourse, intercourse with a 'collection condom', or the post-coital
aspiration of the semen from the vagina.
There are a number of reasons why a woman with a male partner
would use artificial insemination to achieve pregnancy. For example, a
woman's immune system may be rejecting her partner's sperm as invading
molecules. Women who have issues with the cervix – such as cervical scarring, cervical blockage from endometriosis, or thick cervical mucus – may also benefit from artificial insemination, since the sperm must pass through the cervix to result in fertilization.
In the case of heterosexual couples who are finding it difficult
to conceive, before artificial insemination is turned to as the
solution, doctors will require an examination of both the male and
female involved in order to remove any and all physical hindrances that
are preventing them from naturally achieving a pregnancy. The couple is
also given a fertility test to determine the motility, number, and
viability of the male's sperm and the success of the female's ovulation.
From these tests, the doctor may or may not recommend a form of
artificial insemination.
Preparations
Timing
is critical, as the window and opportunity for fertilization is little
more than twelve hours from the release of the ovum. To increase the
chance of success, the woman's menstrual cycle is closely observed,
often using ovulation kits, ultrasounds or blood tests, such as basal body temperature
tests over, noting the color and texture of the vaginal mucus, and the
softness of the nose of her cervix. To improve the success rate of AI,
drugs to create a stimulated cycle may be used, but the use of such drugs also results in an increased chance of a multiple birth.
Sperm can be provided fresh or washed.
The washing of sperm increases the chances of fertilization. Pre- and
post-concentration of motile sperm is counted. Sperm from a sperm bank
will be frozen and quarantined for a period, and the donor will be
tested before and after production of the sample to ensure that he does
not carry a transmissible disease. For fresh shipping, a semen extender is used.
If sperm is provided by a private donor, either directly or
through a sperm agency, it is usually supplied fresh, not frozen, and it
will not be quarantined. Donor sperm provided in this way may be given
directly to the recipient woman or her partner, or it may be transported
in specially insulated containers. Some donors have their own freezing
apparatus to freeze and store their sperm.
Semen used is used either fresh, raw, or frozen. Where donor sperm is
supplied by a sperm bank, it will always be quarantined and frozen, and
will need to be thawed before use. The sperm is ideally donated after
2-3 days of abstinence, without lubrication as the lubricant can inhibit
the sperm motility. When an ovum is released, semen is introduced into the woman's vagina, uterus or cervix, depending on the method being used.
Sperm is occasionally inserted twice within a 'treatment cycle'.
Intracervical insemination
Intracervical
insemination (ICI) simulates an ejaculation of semen by the penis into
the vagina during intercourse. It is painless and is the simplest,
easiest and most common method of artificial insemination. ICI involves
the introduction of unwashed or raw semen into the vagina at the
entrance to the cervix, usually by means of a needleless syringe.
ICI is commonly used in the home, by self-insemination and
practitioner insemination. Raw semen from a private donor may be used
for ICI. Semen supplied by a sperm bank prepared for ICI or IUI use is
suitable for ICI. It is a popular method amongst single and lesbian
women purchasing donor sperm on-line, and was previously used in many
fertility centers as a method of insemination, although its popularity
in this context has waned as other, more reliable methods of
insemination have become available.
During ICI, air is expelled from a needleless syringe which is
then filled with semen which has been allowed to liquify. A
specially-designed syringe, wider and with a more rounded end, may be
used for this purpose. Any further enclosed air is removed by gently
pressing the plunger forward. The woman lies on her back and the syringe
is inserted into the vagina. Care is optimal when inserting the
syringe, so that the tip is as close to the entrance to the cervix as
possible. A vaginal speculum may be used for this purpose. The plunger
is then slowly pushed forward and the semen in the syringe is gently
emptied deep into the vagina. It is important that the syringe is
emptied slowly for best results. The syringe may be left in place for
several minutes before removal. The woman can bring herself to orgasm so
that the cervix 'dips down' into the pool of semen, again replicating
closely vaginal intercourse, and this may improve the success rate. The
woman is advised to lie still for about half-an-hour to improve the
success rate.
One insemination during a cycle is usually sufficient. Additional inseminations may not improve the chances of a pregnancy.
Ordinary sexual lubricants should not be used in the process, but
special fertility or 'sperm-friendly' lubricants can be used for
increased ease and comfort.
When performed at home without the presence of a professional,
aiming the sperm in the vagina at the neck of the cervix may be more
difficult to achieve and the effect may be to 'flood' the vagina with
semen, rather than to target it specifically at the entrance to the
cervix. This procedure is therefore sometimes referred to as
intravaginal insemination (IVI).
Sperm supplied by a sperm bank will be frozen and must be allowed to
thaw before insemination. The sealed end of the straw itself must be cut
off and the open end of the straw is usually fixed straight on to the
tip of the syringe, allowing the contents to be drawn into the syringe.
Sperm from more than one straw can generally be used in the same
syringe. Where fresh semen is used, this must be allowed to liquefy
before inserting it into the syringe, or alternatively, the syringe may
be back-loaded.
A conception cap, which is a form of conception device,
may be inserted into the vagina following insemination and may be left
in place for several hours. Using this method, a woman may go about her
usual activities while the cervical cap holds the semen in the vagina
close to the entrance to the cervix. Advocates of this method claim that
it increases the chances of conception. One advantage with the
conception device is that fresh, non-liquefied semen may be used. The
male may ejaculate straight into the cap so that his fresh semen can be
inserted immediately into the vagina without waiting for it to liquefy,
although a collection cup may also be used. Other methods may be used to
insert semen into the vagina notably involving different uses of a
conception cap. This may, for example, be inserted filled with sperm
which does not have to be liquefied. Alternatively, a specially designed
conception cap with a tube attached may be inserted empty into the
vagina after which liquefied semen is poured into the tube. These
methods are designed to ensure that semen is inseminated as close as
possible to the cervix and that it is kept in place there to increase
the chances of conception.
Intrauterine insemination
Intrauterine insemination (IUI) involves injection of washed sperm into the uterus with a catheter. If unwashed semen is used, it may elicit uterine cramping, expelling the semen and causing pain, due to content of prostaglandins.
(Prostaglandins are also the compounds responsible for causing the
myometrium to contract and expel the menses from the uterus, during menstruation.) Resting on the table for fifteen minutes after an IUI is optimal for the woman to increase the pregnancy rate.
The indications to perform an intrauterine insemination are
usually a moderate male factor, the incapability to ejaculate in vagina
and an idiopathic infertility.
Unlike ICI, intrauterine insemination normally requires a medical
practitioner to perform the procedure. One of the requirements is to
have at least one permeable tube, proved by hysterosalpingography. The
infertility duration is also important. A female under 30 years of age
has optimal chances with IUI; for the man, a TMS of more than 5 million per ml is optimal. In practice, donor sperm will satisfy these criteria. A promising cycle is one that offers two follicles measuring more than 16 mm, and estrogen of more than 500 pg/mL on the day of hCG administration. A short period of ejaculatory abstinence before intrauterine insemination is associated with higher pregnancy rates. However, GnRH agonist
administration at the time of implantation does not improve pregnancy
outcome in intrauterine insemination cycles according to a randomized controlled trial.
IUI is a more efficient method of artificial insemination than
ICI and, because of its generally higher success rate, is usually the
insemination procedure of choice for single women and lesbians using
donor semen in a fertility centre and who are less likely to have
fertility issues of their own. Enabling the sperm to be inserted
directly into the womb will produce a better chance of conceiving.
It is also a method used by couples using donor sperm in a fertility centre.
The steps to follow in order to perform an intrauterine insemination are:
Mild Controlled Ovarian Stimulation (COS): there is no control f
how many oocytes are at the same time when stimulating ovulation. For
that reason, it is necessary to check the amount being ovulated via
ultrasound (checking the amount of follicles developing at the same
time) and administering the desired amount of hormones.
Ovulation Induction: using substances known as ovulation inductors.
Semen capacitation: wash and centrifugation, swim-up, or gradient.
The insemination shouldn't be performed later than an hour after
capacitation.
Luteal Phase support: progesterone lack of the endometrium could
rick the pregnancy. To avoid that 200 mg/day of micronized progesterone
are administered via vagina. If there is pregnancy, this hormone is kept
administering until the tenth week of pregnancy.
IUI can be used in conjunction with controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH). Clomiphene Citrate is the first line, Letrozole is second line, in order to stimulate ovaries before moving on to IVF. Still, advanced maternal age
causes decreased success rates; women aged 38–39 years appear to have
reasonable success during the first two cycles of ovarian
hyperstimulation and IUI. However, for women aged over 40 years, there
appears to be no benefit after a single cycle of COH/IUI.[17] Medical experts therefore recommend considering in vitro fertilization after one failed COH/IUI cycle for women aged over 40 years.
A double intrauterine insemination theoretically increases pregnancy rates by decreasing the risk of missing the fertile window during ovulation. However, a randomized trial of insemination after ovarian hyperstimulation found no difference in live birth rate between single and double intrauterine insemination.
Due to the lack of reliable evidence from controlled clinical
trials, it is not certain which semen preparation techniques are more
effective (wash and centrifugation; swim-up; or gradient) in terms of
pregnancy and live birth rates.
Intrauterine tuboperitoneal insemination
Intrauterine tuboperitoneal insemination (IUTPI) involves injection of washed sperm into both the uterus and fallopian tubes.
The cervix is then clamped to prevent leakage to the vagina, best
achieved with a specially designed double nut bivalve (DNB) speculum.
The sperm is mixed to create a volume of 10 ml, sufficient to fill the uterine cavity, pass through the interstitial part of the tubes and the ampulla, finally reaching the peritoneal cavity and the Pouch of Douglas where it would be mixed with the peritoneal and follicular fluid. IUTPI can be useful in unexplained infertility, mild or moderate male infertility, and mild or moderate endometriosis. In non-tubal sub fertility, fallopian tube sperm perfusion may be the preferred technique over intrauterine insemination.
Intratubal insemination
Intratubal insemination (ITI) involves injection of washed sperm into the fallopian tube, although this procedure is no longer generally regarded as having any beneficial effect compared with IUI. ITI however, should not be confused with gamete intrafallopian transfer,
where both eggs and sperm are mixed outside the woman's body and then
immediately inserted into the fallopian tube where fertilization takes
place.
Pregnancy rate
Approximate pregnancy rate as a function of total sperm count (may be twice as large as total motile sperm count). Values are for intrauterine insemination. (Old data, rates are likely higher today)
The rate of successful pregnancy for artificial insemination are 10-15% per menstrual cycle using ICI, and 15–20% per cycle for IUI. In IUI, about 60 to 70% have achieved pregnancy after 6 cycles.
However, these pregnancy rates may be very misleading, since many
factors have to be included to give a meaningful answer, e.g.
definition of success and calculation of the total population.
These rates can be influenced by age, overall reproductive health, and
if the patient had an orgasm during the insemination. The literature is
conflicting on immobilization after insemination has increasing the
chances of pregnancy.
Previous data suggests that it is statistically significant for the
patient to remain immobile for 15 minutes after insemination, while
other review article claims that it is not.
A point of consideration, is that it does cost the patient or
healthcare system to remain immobile for 15 minutes if it does increase
the chances. For couples with unexplained infertility, unstimulated IUI is no more effective than natural means of conception.
The pregnancy rate also depends on the total sperm count, or, more specifically, the total motile sperm count
(TMSC), used in a cycle. The success rate increases with increasing
TMSC, but only up to a certain count, when other factors become limiting
to success. The summed pregnancy rate of two cycles using a TMSC of 5
million (may be a TSC of ~10 million on graph) in each cycle is
substantially higher than one single cycle using a TMSC of 10 million.
However, although more cost-efficient, using a lower TMSC also increases
the average time taken to achieve pregnancy. Women whose age is
becoming a major factor in fertility may not want to spend that extra time.
Samples per child
The
number of samples (ejaculates) required to give rise to a child varies
substantially from person to person, as well as from clinic to clinic.
However, the following equations generalize the main factors involved:
For intracervical insemination:
N is how many children a single sample can give rise to.
Vs is the volume of a sample (ejaculate), usually between 1.0 mL and 6.5 mL
c is the concentration of motile sperm in a sample after freezing and thawing, approximately 5–20 million per ml but varies substantially
rs is the pregnancy rate per cycle, between 10% to 35%
nr is the total motile sperm count recommended for vaginal insemination (VI) or intra-cervical insemination (ICI), approximately 20 million pr. ml.
The pregnancy rate increases with increasing number of motile sperm
used, but only up to a certain degree, when other factors become
limiting instead.
Derivation of the equation (click at right to view)
Approximate live birth rate (rs) among infertile couples as a function of total motile sperm count (nr). Values are for intrauterine insemination.
With these numbers, one sample would on average help giving rise to
0.1–0.6 children, that is, it actually takes on average 2–5 samples to
make a child.
For intrauterine insemination, a centrifugation fraction (fc) may be added to the equation:
fc is the fraction of the volume that remains after centrifugation of the sample, which may be about half (0.5) to a third (0.33).
On the other hand, only 5 million motile sperm may be needed per cycle with IUI (nr=5 million).
Thus, only 1–3 samples may be needed for a child if used for IUI.
Social implications
One of the key issues arising from the rise of dependency on assisted reproductive technology
(ARTs) is the pressure placed on couples to conceive; 'where children
are highly desired, parenthood is culturally mandatory, and
childlessness socially unacceptable'.
The medicalization
of infertility creates a framework in which individuals are encouraged
to think of infertility quite negatively. In many cultures donor
insemination is religiously and culturally prohibited, often meaning
that less accessible "high tech" and expensive ARTs, like IVF, are the
only solution.
An over-reliance on reproductive technologies in dealing with infertility prevents many – especially, for example, in the "infertility belt"
of central and southern Africa – from dealing with many of the key
causes of infertility treatable by artificial insemination techniques;
namely preventable infections, dietary and lifestyle influences.
If good records are not kept, the offspring when grown up risk accidental incest.
Legal restrictions
Some
countries restrict artificial insemination in a variety of ways. For
example, some countries do not permit AI for single women, and some
Muslim countries do not permit the use of donor sperm. As of May 2013,
the following European countries permit medically assisted AI for single
women:
It may be used for many reasons, including to allow a male to
inseminate a much larger number of females, to allow use of genetic
material from males separated by distance or time, to overcome physical
breeding difficulties, to control the paternity of offspring, to
synchronise births, to avoid injury incurred during natural mating, and
to avoid the need to keep a male at all (such as for small numbers of
females or in species whose fertile males may be difficult to manage).
Semen is collected,
extended, then cooled or frozen. It can be used on site or shipped to
the female's location. If frozen, the small plastic tube holding the
semen is referred to as a straw. To allow the sperm to remain
viable during the time before and after it is frozen, the semen is mixed
with a solution containing glycerol or other cryoprotectants. An extender
is a solution that allows the semen from a donor to impregnate more
females by making insemination possible with fewer sperm. Antibiotics,
such as streptomycin, are sometimes added to the sperm to control some
bacterial venereal diseases. Before the actual insemination, estrus may be induced through the use of progestogen and another hormone (usually PMSG or Prostaglandin F2α).
History
IA tools brought from the USSR by Luis Thomasset in 1935 to work at Cambridge Laboratories and South America.
The first viviparous animal to be artificially fertilized was a dog. The experiment was conducted with success by the Italian Lazzaro Spallanzani in 1780. Another pioneer was the Russian Ilya Ivanov in 1899. In 1935, diluted semen from Suffolk sheep was flown from Cambridge in Britain to Kraków, Poland, as part of an international research project. The participants included Prawochenki (Poland), Milovanoff (USSR), Hammond and Walton (UK), and Thomasset (Uruguay).
Modern artificial insemination was pioneered by John O. Almquist of Pennsylvania State University. He improved breeding efficiency by the use of antibiotics (first proven with penicillin
in 1946) to control bacterial growth, decreasing embryonic mortality,
and increase fertility. This, and various new techniques for processing,
freezing, and thawing of frozen semen significantly enhanced the
practical utilization of AI in the livestock industry, and earned him
the 1981 Wolf Foundation Prize in Agriculture. Many techniques developed by him have since been applied to other species, including humans.
Species
Artificial insemination is used in many non-human animals, including sheep, horses, cattle, pigs, dogs, pedigree animals generally, zoo animals, turkeys and creatures as tiny as honeybees and as massive as orcas (killer whales).
Artificial insemination of farm animals is common in the
developed world, especially for breeding dairy cattle (75% of all
inseminations). Swine
are also bred using this method (up to 85% of all inseminations). It is
an economical means for a livestock breeder to improve their herds
utilizing males having desirable traits.
This procedure is condemned by animal rights campaigners such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and Joey Carbstrong, who identify the practice as a form of rape due to its sexual, involuntary and perceived painful nature.
Although common with cattle and swine, AI is not as widely practised in the breeding of horses.
A small number of equine associations in North America accept only
horses that have been conceived by "natural cover" or "natural
service" – the actual physical mating of a mare to a stallion – the Jockey Club being the most notable of these, as no AI is allowed in Thoroughbred breeding. Other registries such as the AQHA and warmblood
registries allow registration of foals created through AI, and the
process is widely used allowing the breeding of mares to stallions not
resident at the same facility – or even in the same country – through
the use of transported frozen or cooled semen.
In modern species conservation, semen collection and artificial
insemination is used also in birds. In 2013 scientist of the
Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Germany, from the working group of
Michael Lierz, Clinic for birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish,
developed a novel technique for semen collection and artificial
insemination in parrots producing the world's first macaw by assisted
reproduction.
Scientists working with captive orcas
were able to pioneer the technique in the early 2000s, resulting in
"the first successful conceptions, resulting in live offspring, using
artificial insemination in any cetacean species". John Hargrove, a SeaWorld trainer, describes Kasatka as being the first orca to receive AI.
The history of the Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and AlsatianAnabaptists in 1693 led by Jakob Ammann. Those who followed Ammann became known as Amish. In the second half of the 19th century, the Amish divided into Old Order Amish and Amish Mennonites.
The latter do not eschew motor cars, whereas the Old Order Amish
retained much of their traditional culture. When people refer to the
Amish today, they normally refer to the Old Order Amish.
As of 2000, over 165,000 Old Order Amish lived in the United States and about 1,500 lived in Canada. A 2008 study suggested their numbers had increased to 227,000,
and in 2010, a study suggested their population had grown by 10 percent
in the past two years to 249,000, with increasing movement to the West.
Most of the Amish continue to have six or seven children, while
benefiting from the major decrease in infant and maternal mortality in
the 20th century. Between 1992 and 2017, the Amish population increased
by 149 percent, while the U.S. population increased by 23 percent.
Amish church membership begins with baptism,
usually between the ages of 16 and 23. It is a requirement for marriage
within the Amish church. Once a person is baptized within the church,
he or she may marry only within the faith. Church districts have
between 20 and 40 families and worship services are held every other
Sunday in a member's home. The district is led by a bishop and several
ministers and deacons. The rules of the church, the Ordnung,
must be observed by every member and cover many aspects of day-to-day
living, including prohibitions or limitations on the use of power-line
electricity, telephones, and automobiles, as well as regulations on
clothing. Most Amish do not buy commercial insurance or participate in Social Security. As present-day Anabaptists, Amish church members practice nonresistance
and will not perform any type of military service. The Amish value
rural life, manual labor, and humility, all under the auspices of living
what they interpret to be God's word.
Members who do not conform to these community expectations and who cannot be convinced to repent are excommunicated. In addition to excommunication, members may be shunned,
a practice that limits social contacts to shame the wayward member into
returning to the church. Almost 90 percent of Amish teenagers choose to
be baptized and join the church. During an adolescent period of rumspringa
("running around") in some communities, nonconforming behavior that
would result in the shunning of an adult who had made the permanent
commitment of baptism, may be met with a degree of forbearance.
Amish church groups seek to maintain a degree of separation from the
non-Amish world, i.e. American and Canadian society. Non-Amish people
are generally referred to as "English". Generally, a heavy emphasis is
placed on church and family relationships. The Amish typically operate
their own one-room schools and discontinue formal education after grade eight, at age 13 or 14.
Until the children turn 16, they have vocational training under the
tutelage of their parents, community, and the school teacher. Higher
education is generally discouraged, as it can lead to social segregation
and the unraveling of the community.
However, some Amish women have used higher education to obtain a
nursing certificate so that they may provide midwifery services to the
community.
The term Amish was first used as a Schandename (a term of disgrace) in 1710 by opponents of Jakob Amman. The first informal division between Swiss Brethren was recorded in the 17th century between Oberländers (those living in the hills) and Emmentaler (those living in the Emmental valley). The Oberländers were a more extreme congregation; their zeal pushed them into more remote areas and their solitude made them more zealous.
Swiss Anabaptism developed, from this point, in two parallel
streams, most clearly marked by disagreement over the preferred
treatment of "fallen" believers. The Emmentalers (sometimes referred to
as Reistians, after bishop Hans Reist, a leader among the Emmentalers) argued that fallen believers should only be withheld from communion,
and not regular meals. The Amish argued that those who had been banned
should be avoided even in common meals. The Reistian side eventually
formed the basis of the Swiss Mennonite Conference.
Because of this common heritage, Amish and Mennonites from southern
Germany and Switzerland retain many similarities. Those who leave the
Amish fold tend to join various congregations of Conservative Mennonites.
Migration to North America
Amish began migrating to Pennsylvania, then known for its religious toleration, in 1727 as part of a larger migration from the Palatinate and neighboring areas. This migration was a reaction to religious wars, poverty, and religious persecution in Europe. The first Amish immigrants went to the region that became Berks County, Pennsylvania, but later moved, motivated by land issues and by security concerns tied to the French and Indian War. Many eventually settled in Lancaster County. Other groups later settled elsewhere in North America.
1850–1878 Division into Old Orders and Amish Mennonites
Most Amish communities that were established in North America did not
ultimately retain their Amish identity. The major division that
resulted in the loss of identity of many Amish congregations occurred in
the third quarter of the 19th century. The forming of factions worked
its way out at different times at different places. The process was
rather a "sorting out" than a split. Amish people are free to join
another Amish congregation at another place that fits them best.
In the years after 1850, tensions rose within individual Amish
congregations and between different Amish congregations. Between 1862
and 1878, yearly Dienerversammlungen
(ministerial conferences) were held at different places, concerning how
the Amish should deal with the tensions caused by the pressures of
modern society.
The meetings themselves were a progressive idea; for bishops to
assemble to discuss uniformity was an unprecedented notion in the Amish
church. By the first several meetings, the more traditionally minded bishops agreed to boycott the conferences.
The more progressive members, comprising roughly two-thirds of
the group, became known by the name Amish Mennonite, and eventually
united with the Mennonite Church,
and other Mennonite denominations, mostly in the early 20th century.
The more traditionally minded groups became known as the Old Order
Amish. The Egli Amish
had already started to withdraw from the Amish church in 1858. They
soon drifted away from the old ways and changed their name to
"Defenseless Mennonite" in 1908. Congregations who took no side in the division after 1862 formed the Conservative Amish Mennonite Conference in 1910, but dropped the word "Amish" from their name in 1957.
Because no division occurred in Europe, the Amish congregations
remaining there took the same way as the change-minded Amish Mennonites
in North America and slowly merged with the Mennonites. The last Amish congregation in Germany to merge was the Ixheim
Amish congregation, which merged with the neighboring Mennonite Church
in 1937. Some Mennonite congregations, including most in Alsace, are descended directly from former Amish congregations.
20th century
Though
splits happened among the Old Order in the 19th century in Mifflin
County, Pennsylvania, a major split among the Old Orders took until World War I. At that time, two very conservative affiliations emerged – the Swartzentruber Amish in Holmes County, Ohio, and the Buchanan Amish in Iowa. The Buchanan Amish soon were joined by like-minded congregations all over the country.
With World War I came the massive suppression of the German language in the US that eventually led to language shift of most Pennsylvania German speakers, leaving the Amish and other Old Orders as almost the only speakers by the end of the 20th century. This created a language barrier around the Amish that did not exist before in that form.
In the late 1920s, the more change minded faction of the Old
Order Amish, that wanted to adopt the car, broke away from the
mainstream and organized under the name Beachy Amish.
During the Second World War, the old question of military service for the Amish came up again. Because Amish young men in general refused military service, they ended up in the Civilian Public Service
(CPS), where they worked mainly in forestry and hospitals. The fact
that many young men worked in hospitals, where they had a lot of contact
with more progressive Mennonites and the outside world, had the result
that many of these men never joined the Amish church.
In the 1950s, the Beachy Amish transformed into an evangelical
church. The ones who wanted to preserve the old way of the Beachy became
the Old Beachy Amish.
Until about 1950, almost all Amish children attended small,
local, non-Amish schools, but then school consolidation and mandatory
schooling beyond eighth grade caused Amish opposition. Amish communities
opened their own Amish schools. In 1972, the United States Supreme Court exempted Amish pupils from compulsory education past eighth grade. By the end of the 20th century, almost all Amish children attended Amish schools.
In the last quarter of the 20th century, a growing number of
Amish men left farm work and started small businesses because of
increasing pressure on small-scale farming. Though a wide variety of
small businesses exists among the Amish, construction work and
woodworking are quite widespread. In many Amish settlements, especially the larger ones, farmers are now a minority. Approximately 12,000 of the 40,000 dairy farms in the United States are Amish-owned as of 2018.
Until the early 20th century, Old Order Amish identity was not
linked to the use of technologies, as the Old Order Amish and their
rural neighbors used the same farm and household technologies. Questions
about the use of technologies also did not play a role in the Old Order
division of the second half of the 19th century. Telephones were the
first important technology that was rejected, soon followed by the
rejection of cars, tractors, radios, and many other technological
inventions of the 20th century.
Religious practices
A scan of the historical document Diß Lied haben die sieben Brüder im Gefängnüß zu Gmünd gemacht
Two key concepts for understanding Amish practices are their rejection of Hochmut (pride, arrogance, haughtiness) and the high value they place on Demut (humility) and Gelassenheit (calmness, composure, placidity), often translated as "submission" or "letting-be". Gelassenheit
is perhaps better understood as a reluctance to be forward, to be
self-promoting, or to assert oneself. The Amish's willingness to submit
to the "Will of Jesus",
expressed through group norms, is at odds with the individualism so
central to the wider American culture. The Amish anti-individualist
orientation is the motive for rejecting labor-saving technologies that
might make one less dependent on the community. Modern innovations such
as electricity might spark a competition for status goods, or
photographs might cultivate personal vanity. Electric power lines would
be going against the Bible, which says that you shall not be "conformed
to the world" (Romans 12:2).
Way of life
Amish couple in horse-driven buggy in rural Holmes County, Ohio, September 2004
Amish lifestyle is regulated by the Ordnung ('order'),
which differs slightly from community to community, and within a
community, from district to district. What is acceptable in one
community may not be acceptable in another. The Ordnung
is agreed upon – or changed – within the whole community of baptized
members prior to Communion which takes place two times a year. The
meeting where the Ordnung is discussed is called Ordnungsgemeine in Standard German and Ordningsgmee in Pennsylvania Dutch. The Ordnung
include matters such as dress, permissible uses of technology,
religious duties, and rules regarding interaction with outsiders. In
these meetings, women also vote in questions concerning the Ordnung.
Bearing children, raising them, and socializing with neighbors
and relatives are the greatest functions of the Amish family. Amish
typically believe that large families are a blessing from God. Farm
families tend to have larger families, because sons are needed to
perform farm labor. Community is central to the Amish way of life.
Working hard is considered godly, and some technological
advancements have been considered undesirable because they reduce the
need for hard work. Machines such as automatic floor cleaners in barns
have historically been rejected as this provides young farmhands with
too much free time.
Clothing
The
Amish are known for their plain attire. Men wear solid colored shirts,
broad-brimmed hats, and suits that signify similarity amongst one
another. Amish men grow beards to symbolize manhood and marital status,
as well as to promote humility. They are forbidden to grow mustaches
because mustaches are seen by the Amish as being affiliated with the
military, which they are strongly opposed to, due to their pacifist
beliefs. Women have similar guidelines on how to dress, which are also
expressed in the Ordnung,
the Amish version of legislation. They are to wear calf-length dresses,
muted colors along with bonnets and aprons. Prayer caps or bonnets are
worn by the women because they are a visual representation of their
religious beliefs and promote unity through the tradition of every women
wearing one. The color of the bonnet signifies whether a woman is
single or married. Single women wear black bonnets and married women
wear white. The color coding of bonnets is important because women are
not allowed to wear jewelry, such as wedding rings, as it is seen as
drawing attention to the body which can induce pride in the individual.
All clothing is sewn by hand, but the way to fasten the garment widely
depends on whether the Amish person is a part of the New Order or Old
Order Amish. The Old Order Amish seldom, if ever, use buttons because they are seen as too flashy; instead, they use the hook and eye
approach to fashion clothing or metal snaps. The New Order Amish are
slightly more progressive and allow the usage of buttons to help attire
clothing.
Cuisine
Amish cuisine is noted for its simplicity and traditional qualities.
Food plays an important part in Amish social life and is served at potlucks, weddings, fundraisers, farewells, and other events.
Many Amish foods are sold at markets including pies, preserves, bread
mixes, pickled produce, desserts, and canned goods. Many Amish
communities have also established restaurants for visitors. Amish meat
consumption is similar to the American average though they tend to eat
more preserved meat.
Subgroups of Amish
Over the years, the Amish churches have divided many times mostly
over questions concerning the Ordnung, but also over doctrinal disputes,
mainly about shunning. The largest group, the "Old Order" Amish, a
conservative faction that separated from other Amish in the 1860s, are
those who have most emphasized traditional practices and beliefs. The New Order Amish are a group of Amish whom some scholars see best described as a subgroup of Old Order Amish, despite the name.
Affiliations
About
40 different Old Order Amish affiliations are known; the eight major
affiliations are below, with Lancaster as the largest one in number of
districts and population:
The
table below indicates the use of certain technologies by different
Amish affiliations. The use of cars is not allowed by any Old and New
Order Amish, nor are radio, television, or in most cases the use of the
Internet. The three affiliations: "Lancaster", "Holmes Old Order", and
"Elkhart-LaGrange" are not only the three largest affiliations, but they
also represent the mainstream among the Old Order Amish. The most
conservative affiliations are above, the most modern ones below.
Technologies used by very few are on the left; the ones used by most are
on the right. The percentage of all Amish who use a technology is also
indicated approximately.
The Old Order Amish culture involves lower greenhouse gas emissions in
all sectors and activities with the exception of diet, and their
per-person emissions has been estimated to be less than one quarter that
of the wider society.
Language
Most Old Order Amish speak Pennsylvania Dutch, and refer to non-Amish people as "English", regardless of ethnicity. Some Amish who migrated to the United States in the 1850s speak a form of Bernese German or a Low AlemannicAlsatian dialect.
Contrary to popular belief, the word "Dutch" in "Pennsylvania
Dutch" is not a mistranslation, but rather a corruption of the
Pennsylvania German endonymDeitsch, which means "Pennsylvania Dutch / German" or "German". Ultimately, the terms Deitsch, Dutch, Diets and Deutsch are all cognates of the Proto-Germanic word *þiudiskaz meaning "popular" or "of the people". The continued use of "Pennsylvania Dutch" was strengthened by the Pennsylvania Dutch in the 19th century as a way of distinguishing themselves from later (post 1830) waves of German immigrants to the United States, with the Pennsylvania Dutch referring to themselves as Deitsche and to Germans as Deitschlenner (literally "Germany-ers", compare Deutschland-er) whom they saw as a related but distinct group.
According to one scholar, "today, almost all Amish are
functionally bilingual in Pennsylvania Dutch and English; however,
domains of usage are sharply separated. Pennsylvania Dutch dominates in
most in-group settings, such as the dinner table and preaching in church
services. In contrast, English is used for most reading and writing.
English is also the medium of instruction in schools and is used in
business transactions and often, out of politeness, in situations
involving interactions with non-Amish. Finally, the Amish read prayers
and sing in Standard German (which, in Pennsylvania Dutch, is called Hochdeitsch) at church services. The distinctive use of three different languages serves as a powerful conveyor of Amish identity.
"Although 'the English language is being used in more and more
situations,' Pennsylvania Dutch is 'one of a handful of minority
languages in the United States that is neither endangered nor supported
by continual arrivals of immigrants.'"
Ethnicity
The Amish largely share a German or Swiss-German ancestry. They generally use the term "Amish" only for members of their faith community and not as an ethnic designation. However some Amish descendants
recognize their cultural background knowing that their genetic and
cultural traits are uniquely different from other ethnicities.
Those who choose to affiliate with the church, or young children raised
in Amish homes, but too young to yet be church members, are considered
to be Amish. Certain Mennonite churches have a high number of people who
were formerly from Amish congregations. Although more Amish immigrated
to North America in the 19th century than during the 18th century, most
of today's Amish descend from 18th-century immigrants. The latter tended
to emphasize tradition to a greater extent, and were perhaps more
likely to maintain a separate Amish identity.
There are a number of Amish Mennonite church groups that had never in
their history been associated with the Old Order Amish because they
split from the Amish mainstream in the time when the Old Orders formed
in the 1860s and 1870s. The former Western Ontario Mennonite Conference
(WOMC) was made up almost entirely of former Amish Mennonites who
reunited with the Mennonite Church in Canada. Orland Gingerich's book The Amish of Canada devotes the vast majority of its pages not to the Beachy or Old Order Amish, but to congregations in the former WOMC.
Para-Amish groups
Several other groups, called "para-Amish" by G. C. Waldrep and others, share many characteristics with the Amish, such as horse and buggy transportation, plain dress, and the preservation of the German language.
The members of these groups are largely of Amish origin, but they are
not in fellowship with other Amish groups because they adhere to
theological doctrines (e.g., assurance of salvation) or practices (community of goods) that are normally not accepted among mainstream Amish. The Bergholz Community is a different case, it is not seen as Amish anymore because the community has shifted away from many core Amish principles.
Population
Historical population
Year
Pop.
±% p.a.
1920
5,000
—
1928
7,000
+4.30%
1936
9,000
+3.19%
1944
13,000
+4.70%
1952
19,000
+4.86%
1960
28,000
+4.97%
1968
39,000
+4.23%
1976
57,000
+4.86%
1984
84,000
+4.97%
1992
128,150
+5.42%
2000
166,000
+3.29%
2010
249,500
+4.16%
2019
341,900
+3.56%
Source: 1992, 2000, 2010, 2019
Because the Amish are usually baptized no earlier than 18 and
children are not counted in local congregation numbers, estimating their
numbers is difficult. Rough estimates from various studies placed their
numbers at 125,000 in 1992, 166,000 in 2000, and 221,000 in 2008.
Thus, from 1992 to 2008, population growth among the Amish in North
America was 84 percent (3.6 percent per year). During that time, they
established 184 new settlements and moved into six new states. In 2000, about 165,620 Old Order Amish resided in the United States, of whom 73,609 were church members. The Amish are among the fastest-growing populations in the world, with an average of seven children per family in the 1970s and a total fertility rate of 5.3 in the 2010s.
In 2010, a few religious bodies, including the Amish, changed the
way their adherents were reported to better match the standards of the
Association of Statisticians of American Religious Bodies. When looking
at all Amish adherents and not solely Old Order Amish, about 241,000
Amish adherents were in 28 U.S. states in 2010.
United States is the home to the overwhelming majority (98.35%) of
the Amish people. In 2019, Old Order communities were present in 31 U.S.
states. The total Amish population in United States as of June 2019 has stood at 336,235,
up 11,335 or 3.5%, compared to the previous year. Pennsylvania has the
largest population (79,200), followed by Ohio (76,200) and Indiana
(57,400), as of June 2019. The largest Amish settlements are in Lancaster County in southeastern Pennsylvania (39,255), Holmes County and adjacent counties in northeastern Ohio (36,755), and Elkhart and LaGrange counties in northeastern Indiana (25,660), as of June 2019. Nearly 50% of the population in Holmes County is Amish.
The largest concentration of Amish west of the Mississippi River is in Missouri, with other settlements in eastern Iowa and southeast Minnesota. The largest Amish settlements in Iowa are located near Kalona and Bloomfield. The largest settlement in Wisconsin is near Cashton with 13 congregations, i.e. about 2,000 people in 2009.
Because of rapid population growth in Amish communities, new
settlements are formed to obtain enough affordable farmland. Other
reasons for new settlements include locating in isolated areas that
support their lifestyle, moving to areas with cultures conducive to
their way of life, maintaining proximity to family or other Amish
groups, and sometimes to resolve church or leadership conflicts.
The adjacent table shows the eight states with the largest Amish population in the years 1992, 2000, 2010, and 2019.
In 2016, several dozen Old Order Amish families founded two new settlements in Kings County
in the province of Prince Edward Island. Increasing land prices in
Ontario had reportedly limited the ability of members in those
communities to purchase new farms. At about the same time a new settlement was founded near Perth-Andover in New Brunswick, only about 12 km from Amish settlements in Maine. In 2017, an Amish settlement was founded in Manitoba near Stuartburn.
Latin America
The first attempt by Old Order Amish to settle in Latin America was in Paradise Valley, near Galeana, Nuevo León, Mexico, but the settlement only lasted from 1923 to 1929. An Amish settlement was tried in Honduras from about 1968 to 1978, but this settlement failed too. In 2015, new settlements of New Order Amish were founded east of Catamarca, Argentina, and Colonia Naranjita, Bolivia, about 75 miles (121 km) southwest of Santa Cruz. Most of the members of these new communities come from Old Colony Mennonite background and have been living in the area for several decades.
Europe
In
Europe, no split occurred between Old Order Amish and Amish Mennonites;
like the Amish Mennonites in North America, the European Amish
assimilated into the Mennonite mainstream during the second half of the
19th century through the first decades of the 20th century. Eventually,
they dropped the word "Amish" from the names of their congregations and
lost their Amish identity and culture. The last European Amish
congregation joined the Mennonites in 1937 in Ixheim, today part of Zweibrücken in the Palatinate region.
Seekers and joiners
Only a few outsiders, so-called seekers, have ever joined the Amish. Since 1950, only some 75 people have joined and remained members of the Amish. Since 1990, some twenty people of Russian Mennonite background have joined the Amish in Aylmer, Ontario.
More people have tested Amish life for weeks, months, or even
years, but in the end decided not to join. Others remain close to the
Amish, but never think of joining.
Amish populations have higher incidences of particular conditions, including dwarfism, Angelman syndrome, and various metabolic disorders, as well as an unusual distribution of blood types. The Amish represent a collection of different demes or genetically closed communities. Although the Amish do not have higher rates of genetic disorders than the general population,
since almost all Amish descend from about 200 18th-century founders,
genetic disorders resulting from inbreeding exist in more isolated
districts (an example of the founder effect).
Some of these disorders are rare or unique, and are serious enough to
increase the mortality rate among Amish children. The Amish are aware of
the advantages of exogamy, but for religious reasons, marry only within their communities. The majority of Amish accepts these as Gottes Wille
(God's will); they reject the use of preventive genetic tests prior to
marriage and genetic testing of unborn children to discover genetic
disorders. When a child is born with a disorder, it is accepted into the
community and tasked with chores within their ability.
However, Amish are willing to participate in studies of genetic
diseases. Their extensive family histories are useful to researchers
investigating diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and macular degeneration.
While the Amish are at an increased risk for some genetic
disorders, researchers have found their tendency for clean living can
lead to better health. Overall cancer rates in the Amish are reduced and
tobacco-related cancers in Amish adults are 37% and non-tobacco-related
cancers are 72% of the rate for Ohio adults. The Amish are protected
against many types of cancer both through their lifestyle and through
genes that may reduce their susceptibility to cancer.
Even skin cancer rates are lower for Amish, even though many Amish make
their living working outdoors where they are exposed to sunlight. They
are typically covered and dressed by wearing wide-brimmed hats and long
sleeves which protect their skin.
Treating genetic problems is the mission of Clinic for Special Children in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, which has developed effective treatments for such problems as maple syrup urine disease,
a previously fatal disease. The clinic is embraced by most Amish,
ending the need for parents to leave the community to receive proper
care for their children, an action that might result in shunning.
Another clinic is DDC Clinic for Special Needs Children, located in Middlefield, Ohio, for special-needs children with inherited or metabolic disorders. The DDC Clinic provides treatment, research, and educational services to Amish and non-Amish children and their families.
People's Helpers is an Amish-organized network of mental health
caregivers who help families dealing with mental illness and recommend
professional counselors. Suicide rates for the Amish are about half that of the general population.
The Old Order Amish do not typically carry private commercial health insurance.
A handful of American hospitals, starting in the mid-1990s, created
special outreach programs to assist the Amish. In some Amish
communities, the church will collect money from its members to help pay
for medical bills of other members.
Although not forbidden, most Amish do not practice any form of birth control. They are against abortion and also find "artificial insemination, genetics, eugenics, and stem cell research" to be "inconsistent with Amish values and beliefs". However, some communities allow access to birth control to women whose health would be compromised by childbirth.
As time has passed, the Amish have felt pressures from the modern
world. Issues such as taxation, education, law and its enforcement, and
occasional discrimination and hostility are areas of difficulty.
The Amish way of life in general has increasingly diverged from
that of modern society. On occasion, this has resulted in sporadic
discrimination and hostility from their neighbors, such as throwing of
stones or other objects at Amish horse-drawn carriages on the roads.
The Amish do not usually educate their children past the eighth
grade, believing that the basic knowledge offered up to that point is
sufficient to prepare one for the Amish lifestyle. Almost no Amish go to
high school and college. In many communities, the Amish operate their
own schools, which are typically one-room schoolhouses with teachers
(usually young, unmarried women) from the Amish community. On May 19,
1972, Jonas Yoder and Wallace Miller of the Old Order Amish, and Adin
Yutzy of the Conservative Amish Mennonite Church were each fined $5 for
refusing to send their children, aged 14 and 15, to high school. In Wisconsin v. Yoder (1972), the Wisconsin Supreme Court overturned the conviction, and the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed this, finding the benefits of universal education were not sufficient justification to overcome scrutiny under the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment.
The Amish are subject to sales and property taxes. As they
seldom own motor vehicles, they rarely have occasion to pay motor
vehicle registration fees or spend money in the purchase of fuel for
vehicles.
Under their beliefs and traditions, generally the Amish do not agree
with the idea of Social Security benefits and have a religious objection
to insurance. On this basis, the United States Internal Revenue Service agreed in 1961 that they did not need to pay Social Security-related taxes. In 1965, this policy was codified into law.
Self-employed individuals in certain sects do not pay into or receive
benefits from the United States Social Security system. This exemption
applies to a religious group that is conscientiously opposed to
accepting benefits of any private or public insurance, provides a
reasonable level of living for its dependent members, and has existed
continuously since December 31, 1950.
The U.S. Supreme Court clarified in 1982 that Amish employers are not
exempt, but only those Amish individuals who are self-employed.
Publishing
In 1964, Pathway Publishers was founded by two Amish farmers to print more material about the Amish and Anabaptists in general. It is located in Lagrange, Indiana, and Aylmer, Ontario.
Pathway has become the major publisher of Amish school textbooks,
general-reading books, and periodicals. Also, a number of private
enterprises publish everything from general reading to reprints of
older literature that has been considered of great value to Amish
families. Some Amish read the Pennsylvania German newspaper Hiwwe wie Driwwe, and some of them even contribute dialect texts.
Similar groups
Groups that sprang from the same late 19th century Old Order Movement as the Amish share their Pennsylvania German heritage and often still retain similar features in dress. These Old Order groups include different subgroups of Old Order Mennonites, traditional Schwarzenau Brethren and Old Order River Brethren. The Noah Hoover Old Order Mennonites
are so similar in outward aspects to the Old Order Amish (dress,
beards, horse and buggy, extreme restrictions on modern technology,
Pennsylvania German language), that they are often perceived as Amish
and even called Amish.
Conservative "Russian" Mennonites and Hutterites
who also dress plain and speak German dialects emigrated from other
European regions at a different time with different German dialects,
separate cultures, and related but different religious traditions. Particularly, the Hutterites live communally and are generally accepting of modern technology.
The few remaining Plain Quakers are similar in manner and lifestyle, including their attitudes toward war, but are unrelated to the Amish. Early Quakers were influenced, to some degree, by the Anabaptists,
and in turn influenced the Amish in colonial Pennsylvania. Almost all
modern Quakers have since abandoned their traditional dress.
The Amish and the Native Americans
The Northkill Amish Settlement, established in 1740 in Berks County, Pennsylvania, was the first identifiable Amish community in the new world. During the French and Indian War, the so-called Hochstetler Massacre occurred: Local tribes attacked the Jacob Hochstetler homestead
in the Northkill settlement on September 19, 1757. The sons of the
family took their weapons but father Jacob did not allow them to shoot.
Jacob Sr.'s wife, Anna (Lorentz) Hochstetler, a daughter (name unknown)
and Jacob Jr. were killed by the Native Americans. Jacob Sr. and sons
Joseph and Christian were taken captive. Jacob escaped after about eight
months, but the boys were held for several years.
As early as 1809 Amish were farming side by side with Native American farmers in Pennsylvania. According to Cones Kupwah Snowflower, a Shawnee genealogist, the Amish
and Quakers were known to incorporate Native Americans into their
families to protect them from ill-treatment, especially after the Removal Act of 1832.
The Amish, as pacifists, did not engage in warfare with Native
Americans, nor displace them directly, but were among the European
immigrants whose arrival resulted in their displacement.
In 2012, the Lancaster Mennonite Historical Society collaborated
with the Native American community to construct a replica Iroquois
Longhouse.
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