Mennonites When the New World

Mennonites When the New World was being settled, many religious groups traveled across the ocean to escape the intolerance and restrictions of their countries. The Mennonites became the first German colony in America when in 1683 they planted their settlement in Pennsylvania, called Germantown. Today, North America has the second largest number of Mennonite members after Africa, or 451,180, who practice varying levels of the traditional religion. Some members have all-but-abandoned traditional nonconformity, while others wage a determined effort to remain outsiders. Mennonite history dates back to the Reformation in sixteenth-century Europe.

These Anabaptists were named after Menno Simons, who believed that only adults could make the required commitment to become a baptized Christian and that the bread and wine of the Last Supper were more symbolic of Christ's body and blood than the Church of that period taught. The Mennonite tradition was also greatly committed to peace and nonviolence, or what they called nonresistance. Most Anabaptist/Mennonites throughout history strongly refused to use a weapon, such as a gun or knife, in their family's or their friends' protection.

This was because they followed the words of Jesus in the gospel of Matthew 5:39, "But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also." During the Reformation, civil and religious leaders killed thousands of Anabaptists who did not resist in their own defense (Lederach & Sampson, 2000, p.4). The Mennonites had first attempted to establish a New World colony in 1662, when Cornelius Plockhoy led 25 families where the Whorekill flows into the Delaware.

They set up a free school and a cooperative society where people could worship as they pleased, all individuals were created equal, poverty was to be abolished, and slavery was forbidden. They had a successful community for two years, until the English came and completely destroyed the colony. Plockhoy escaped and stayed alive in the American wilderness for 30 years. In 1694, old and blind, his wife led him into to Germantown.

The Mennonites gave him a lot for a house, and the couple lived quietly for the last few years of their lives (Klees, 1950, p. 25). Another group, led by Hans Herr, purchased 10,0000 acres on the Pequea Creek near the present-day village of Willow Street and Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. By 1727, hundreds of Mennonites had settled in a wide area throughout this area. William Penn and his Quaker members welcomed these new arrivals, since they also believed in freedom of conscience and had been persecuted in central Europe because they refused military service.

Most of the arrivals were farmers, but as the towns of Lancaster and Manheim grew later in the century, a number of the Mennonites opened stores and small industries (Walbert, 2002, p. 20). Because of the religious and socio-economic success of the Mennonites in America, many others followed in the early 18th century, most all settling in Pennsylvania. In later decades, other Mennonites went down the Great Valley to Maryland and Virginia and then, in the next century, to Canada and the Western states (Klees, 1950, p.

16) The Mennonite farmers found that the area's extremely fertile limestone soil grew superb cigar leaf, a higher grade of tobacco than what was presently being produced in the poor soils in Virginia and North Carolina. Although the tobacco crop often depleted the land more readily than other plants, the farmers learned that with rotation and the necessary amount of fertilizer, the land could be used and reused appropriately. In fact, tobacco continues to be a highly profitable product in this area.

Mennonite farmers found that tobacco was the right crop for those who needed to have their large families work throughout the year. Because they were so involved in this business, they used the technology innovations, such as refrigeration and trucking, to expand and make it possible to sell in other areas outside of Lancaster. In addition, they also went into other areas of operations, such as dairying, which actually grew as essential to their well-being as the area agriculture (ibid, p. 26).

The German Mennonites were pleased to retain their farms in their own families one generation after the next. They kept their own land and bought the property of their neighbors of other nationalities and religions. This tendency has frequently been a cause of concern for the native population, who were afraid that they could not compete against these farmers (Bernhardt, 1909, p. 30). Farming and the Mennonite tradition has always gone hand-in-hand.

They believe that farming, viewed as caring for God's earth, is not only an occupation but also sacred work that protects family and community members from the negative impact of the external world. They have long believed that part of God's mandate for Christians includes farming together as a family within a tight-knit, exclusionary, ethno-religious rural community (Schmidt, 2001). Throughout the religion, they Mennonites pushed to duplicate their communities in rural locations so that farming could continue as the main occupation of its church members.

Even those families who settled elsewhere, such as in New York or Virginia states, where the land was not as fertile for tobacco, did whatever they could to continue their agricultural production. The entire family worked together as a team to be productive. Men plowed small plots of tobacco for sale and home consumption and provided meals for the family with hunting and fishing. Women and children made dairy foods such as cheese and butter, collected berries, and tended the pigs, cows, sheep, and poultry.

Ever since the 19th century, one of the main sources of income has come from dairy foods, which has always been a shared responsibility. Even children at the age of five or six would begin milking the cows. Both genders also did field work both during time of planting and harvest. The females were in charge of the vegetable gardens, although husbands helped wives with plant bed preparation. The home and family remained the women's central focus. Women prepared the meals, cleaned the house, and tended the small children.

However, this does not mean that the men did not help out in the house. It was not unusual for the men to knit clothes during the cold winter months (Schmidt, 2001). Although the Mennonites would use new technologies to improve their work, it was only to a point, and they made sure that this would not change their traditional way of life. They were afraid of the corruption that some technology, such as televisions and radios, and working away from the land would cause.

Just as important, if not more important, the Mennonites were able to follow the dictates of their religion. The Mennonite Church is very proud of the fact that the first American protest against slavery, made in Germantown in 1688, was partly a Mennonite document. Presented to the Quaker meeting in Germantown 175 years before the Emancipation Proclamation, it was signed by Pastorius, a German pietist; Gerrit Hendricks, a Mennonite; and Derik and Abraham Op den Graff, two Mennonites who had turned Quaker.

They found it a terror that men should be kept as slaves in Pennsylvania. Although this document was too weighty to ever be voted on, none of the Mennonites ever owned slaves (Klees, 1950, p. 16) This was only one example of how the Mennonites showed their disfavor of poor treatment toward others and their strong support of liberty. In the mid-1770s, when Parliament and the British royalty attempted to punish the American colonies, the Mennonites were very upset, because it reminded them of the intolerance towards them in Europe.

Although some moved to Canada to be away from the friction, most joined in the protests, raised funds and began to push the idea of independence (Graeff et. al, 1942, p. 13). However, nonviolence was the expected form of disagreement. Pacifism is an integral part of the Mennonite tradition, which has caused conflict against other Americans, in such crises as the French and Indian War and the Vietnam War. The first such conflict occurred when a member, Christian Funk, argued in favor of supporting the Revolutionary War and the Continental Congress.

The Mennonite church excommunicated him for his beliefs, and he subsequently formed his own church that survived until the mid-1800s. Even today, disagreements exist over lack of support of war, but because of their sizeable contributions to society and agriculture, in addition to the promise of religious freedom, little discord exists between the Mennonites and their surrounding communities (Melton, 1998, p. 90) World War I led to the greatest difficulty for the Mennonites, because of the involvement of Germany and, contrary to earlier wars, the U.S.

government did not offer any alternative service or fines in place of being drafted. The Mennonites gave up most of their German allegiances and switched to speaking English during and after the war. However, they did want an alternative, and believed that the Selective Service Act, which provided that COs serve as non-combatants, was an unacceptable alternative. It did not permit them to provide medical or humanitarian aid to the enemy side, which was common in other wars.

More than 2,000 Mennonites were drafted, and, for the first time, spent time in military camps. Another 600 to 800 left the United States for Canada. Finally, in 1918, the Farm Furlough Bill allowed COs to do farm labor in lieu of military duty due to the extensive labor shortage (ibid) Not every CO could change his status, however. Each situation was taken by itself and evaluated separately to determine if the individual was truly a conscientious objector.

In fact, about ten percent of those Mennonites who declined all service to the military were court-martialed and sent to jail, sixty percent found some other option of service such as farm labor or reconstruction work, and thirty percent of those drafted remained in army camps without opportunity to meet with the Board of Inquiry.

Thus, the First War was a unstable time, since the Mennonites once again faced persecution for their positions in many areas of the country -- two churches were set on fire, numerous buildings were painted yellow, and one cleargyman was even grabbed by a mob and tied to a telephone pole. After World War I ended, the Mennonites' work continued, as they organized to help the needy around the world (ibid).

Prior to World War II, members of the Historic Peace Churches -- Mennonites, Brethren in Christ and the Quakers -- sent a letter to President Roosevelt outlining their peace position and requesting special provisions before any war ensued. The Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 granted that those opposed to war because of religious beliefs should be given "work of national importance under civilian direction," such as forestry, soil conservation, public health, and agriculture and instrumental in the mental health system.

The Mennonites embraced this Civilian Public Service (CPS) system not only as a substitute for armed services but, more importantly, as an expression of biblical faith and dedication to their society. Over.