Shanghai in the 19th and early 20th centuries was a unique city. The combination of its entrepôt status, the complexity of its society, and the very existence of international and French concessions contributed heavily to the difficulty of protecting law and order within the city. The focus here is on the political and the civic; the French Concession is not of great concern, as it has been subject to many of the same vicissitudes and issues as the International Convention, and differs only slightly in the path taken to deal with them. The factors that most influenced law and order in Shanghai, therefore, were extraterritoriality, international agreement and its governing body, as well as coexisting criminal justice systems. The international settlement was founded in 1863. It was the result of the union of the American and British Settlements. The international settlement was governed by the Municipal Council, founded in 1854, and which was directly responsible for all affairs of the settlement. The document on which this group's authority rested was called the Land Settlement. It was written by the Intendant of the Shanghai Circuit Court and the British Consul. They stated that the International Agreement should have "an executive committee or council". It had nine members, elected by upper-class land-owning foreign taxpayers. Provision was made for Chinese members after large-scale strikes and riots occurred in the late 1920s, but it was a few years before they found their way onto the board. The Council had an extremely broad power base; could levy taxes, appoint personnel, administer public funds, build municipal facilities, including roads and sewers, enact building laws... mid-paper... by the International Settlements Municipal Police, although it functioned according to their needs. disadvantage after the May Thirtieth Movement, as the British and other officials linked their position to that of the anti-imperialists and ultra-nationalists. Shanghai's place in history is certainly grand. The city has endured a century of occupation by more than a dozen foreign powers. It was a huge shopping mall. It was the headquarters of the largest crime syndicate in all of China. It was truly sui generis. One of the most important aspects of its history has been the imperialist one. For the most part, imperialism represents a callous abuse of the native world. For the most part this is correct and Shanghai is no different. However, the role of the imperialists in Shanghai was much larger. Imperialism in Shanghai paved the way for faster modernization of everything from streetlights to police.