Final answer:
The Massachusetts Bay Colony in Salem was established by John Winthrop in 1630 with a group of about 700 Puritans aiming to 'purify' the Church of England and create a model Christian community.
Step-by-step explanation:
The first colony to take root at Salem, Massachusetts was founded by John Winthrop in 1630, with about 700 Puritans. These Puritans, non-separating Calvinists, intended not to break entirely from the Church of England but to 'purify' it, hence their name 'Puritan'. Under the leadership of John Winthrop, a lawyer and Member of Parliament, they fled persecution in England and aimed to establish a model Christian community in the Americas, which John Winthrop famously hoped would be a 'City upon a Hill' - a beacon of righteous living and prosperity. Upon arrival in Massachusetts, they formed the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which cooperated with the earlier Plymouth Colony, founded by Pilgrims who had arrived a decade earlier.