The Amish are a group of people who live according to the Anabaptist tradition. They have a common history with other Baptist movements, such as the Mennonites.
The Amish are known for simple lifestyle, plain dress, and reluctance to adopt many conveniences of modern technology. The history of the Amish church began with a schism in Switzerland within a group of Swiss and Alsatian Anabaptists 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. During the 20th century, the Amish Mennonites assimilated, and took several of the conveniences modern technology has to offer. The Old Order Amish on the other hand, kept much of their traditional culture. When people speak of Amish today, they usually mean the Old Order Amish. There were other smaller splits as well. At the end of the 20th century, there were about 18 bigger groups of Amish.