Land, Piety, PeoplehoodThe Establishment of Mennonite Communities in America, 1683-1790 The Mennonite Experience in America, Vol. 1 |
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"Land, Piety, Peoplehood offers both an inner and an outer history of Mennonite life in colonial and revolutionary America. MacMaster tells the Mennonites' own story, and makes clear how the group interacted with larger history and development." - Theron F. Schlabach, Editor of Mennonite Experience in America Series
Richard K. MacMaster follows the Mennonite migration to the New World and analyzes the economic, social, political, and religious forces that drove these people out of the Old World.
"Even though the events of the revolutionary era made Mennonites perceive themselves to a degree as a people apart, eighteenth-century America made room for them. Mennonite ideas of the believers' church, along with nonresistance, close-knit community, and lay leadership, did indeed imply some challenge to the accepted norms of the larger society. Nevertheless, in the nation's pluarlism and denominationalism there was a niche for the Mennonites (and Amish) - hardworking and successful farmers, craftsmen, and small-scale businessmen, and their families." - Richard K. MacMaster, Author