Intro to the Early Modern World

According to Strayer, before entering the Modern Era, history went through an Early Modern World first which has many resembling signs to the Modern World. During the New World the Atlantic slave trade permanently linked Africa to the Western Hemisphere, while the global silver trade allowed Europeans to use the new precious metals in order to buy their way into Asian trade route. The Colombian Exchange is what historians know as a massive transfer of plants, animals, diseases, and people, brought a new network of interactions across both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans which causes enormous global implications. Modernity appeared in various places around the world but the most obviously modern cultural development took place in Europe. The scientific revolution transformed Europe's approach to knowledge, views of the world, and their understanding of traditional Christianity.
Although Europeans ruled the Americas and controlled the world's sea routes, their political and military power in mainland was very limited. China and Japan strictly controlled the European missionaries and the merchants who operated in their societies.