In the 1820s and 1830s immigrants from New England began moving to what is now Michigan in large numbers (though there was a trickle of New England settlers who arrived before this date). These were "Yankee" settlers, that is to say they were descended from the English Puritans who settled New England during the colonial era. While most of them came to Michigan directly from New England, there were many who came from upstate New York. These were people whose parents had moved from New England to upstate New York in the immediate aftermath of the American Revolution. Due to the prevalence of New Englanders and New England transplants from upstate New York, Michigan was very culturally contiguous with early New England culture for much of its early history. The Yankee migration to Michigan was a result of several factors, one of which was the overpopulation of New England. The old stock Yankee population had large families, often bearing up to ten children in one household. Most people were expected to have their own piece of land to farm, and due to the massive and nonstop population boom, land in New England became scarce as every son claimed his own farmstead. As a result, there was not enough land for every family to have a self-sustaining farm, and Yankee settlers began leaving New England for the Midwestern United States. This resulted in Michigan's population expanding rapidly in the 1820s. The Erie Canal caused such an upsurge in immigration from New England that by 1837 "it seemed as if all New England were coming" according to one pioneer. New England families considered it a route to the "promised land". As a result of this heritage, the New England element of Michigan's population would remain culturally and politically dominant for a long time.