Zoar was founded in 1817 by a group of immigrants from Wurttemburg, Germany, who sought religious freedom. Mandatory military service in Germany prompted many pacifist groups, including the Zoarites, to immigrate to the United States. The separatist group chartered the "Twelve Principles of Separatism," a document that guided the community and laid out the framework for how they would live within it. According to the "Twelve Principles of Separatism," the Zoarites asserted, "We cannot serve the state as bodily soldiers, since as a Christian cannot murder his enemy, much less his friend."