ABSTRACT
A significant minority of German migration to colonial America consisted of Mennonites, Amish, Moravians, and Dunkers who accepted William Penn’s 1677 invitation to Pennsylvania. Called Anabaptist (meaning “rebaptism”), these radical Protestant sects emerged in 16th-century central Europe, believing the New Testament to require adult baptism, foot washing, pacifism, and withdrawal from the corrupt governments and churches of the “world” into exclusive communities based on simple living and plain dress. These groups were persecuted, but spread through Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Germany’s Rhine Valley.
