“They call themselves the common people. The men and women known as the Old Order Amish cultivate their fields with horses and plows, travel by horse and buggy, and live without electricity or telephones” (Egenes xiii). In the technologically advanced and modern world we live in today, the word “plain” is extinct from contemporary culture. It's hard to imagine life without today's conveniences that American society tends to take for granted on a daily basis. A world without telephones, electricity, computers and television is almost unfathomable in America, but not for the Amish. This article will discuss how the Amish are a counterculture that opposes nearly every aspect of society's modern lifestyle in the United States, as well as develop a research proposal that will focus on crime in Amish culture versus crime in American culture between teenagers. . To begin investigating this, it is important to understand the history of the Amish. Origin and migration, religious beliefs and practices, economic organization, family and community, as well as education are all important components to understanding the background of the Amish. The first Amish families arrived in America in the 1700s, seeking religious freedom, escaping persecution in Germany, Switzerland, and France (Egenes xiii). The families began in Pennsylvania, and after waves of immigration in the 1800s, the Amish population eventually spread to 20 other states (Egenes xiii). Religion is an extraordinarily significant component of their society in which a member vows to live a life filled with Christian principles and follow the rules of the church and community until death (Egenes xiv). Baptism does not occur until later in adolescence... middle of paper......t.Gaddy, C. Welton., and Barry W. Lynn. Freedom First: A Citizen's Guide to Protecting Religious Freedom and the Separation of Church and State. Boston: Beacon, 2008. Print.McGahey, Richard, and Jennifer S. Vey. Retooling for growth: Building a 21st century economy in America's oldest industrial areas. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2008. Print.Misiroglu, Gina. "Amish." American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in United States History. vol. Two. Armonk, NY: Reference Sharpe, 2009. 28-29. Print.Schwieder, Elmer, Dorothy Schwieder, and Thomas J. Morain. A Peculiar People: The Old Order Amish of Iowa: An Expanded Edition. Iowa City: University of Iowa, 2009. Print.Walbert, David J. Garden Spot: Lancaster County, the Old Order Amish, and the Selling of Rural America. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Print.