Cromwell increased trade by seizing territories, establishing colonies, and warring with competitors for master of the seas and trade. In 1649 it was provided that no one who paid his assessment for soldiers' pay would have to quarter any of them.
Authority was given in 1649 to impress seamen: mariners, sailors, watermen, surgeons, gunners, ship carpenters, caukers, coopers, whoymen, and carmen for carriage of victuals.
English ships were embellished with decoration. Their sail area was increased by triangular fore and aft sails. The Navy increased from 39 to 80 vessels.
After serving in foreign wars, ex-soldiers were allowed in 1654 to
practice any trade without serving a seven year apprenticeship.
Colonies New Hampshire and Maine were established in 1635, Connecticut
in 1636, and Rhode Island in 1638, as offshoots from other colonies.
In 1649 a corporation was established to teach the Gospel of Jesus
Christ in New England to Indians.
About 1650, steel was hardened by repeated quenchings and temperings when the steel had reached certain colors. Brass was made from copper and zinc alloyed together.
There were power-driven rolls for the coinage from 1657. Strips of silver were passed between engraved rolls. Then coins were punched out and their edges serrated.
In the 1650s, Huygens made the first pendulum that worked practically in a mechanical clock. This new clock increased the accuracy of time-keeping tenfold. He also introduced the concept of mathematical expectation into probability theory.
There was a thermometer which used liquid such as water or alcohol in a glass tube instead of air.