r the village chief, while the local chief was accountable to a district chief, and he to the head of a larger area, which in turn was liable to the king (Herskovits 67). Court cases were heard by elders and chiefs (67). To show its complexity, a plaintiff or defendant may appeal to a higher court (67). In such an organized system crime was odd.
             5. The economic development of Africans is highly evident in its production system of communalism (Rodney 710). In this system the entire family serves as a unit of production (709). The land was owned by the family or clan, and since crops were produced by family labor and on family land then the produce was distributed on the basis of kinship ties (709). For example, if a certain area was distressed by climate and did not prosper in their harvesting, relatives and kinsmen would come together to assist those where food was scarce (715). New agricultural techniques and the introduction of iron tools increased economic prosperity (714). Evidence of Africa's prosperity would be their fine quality Moroccan leather, cotton, and cloth similar to velvet (712). To further demonstrate Africa's economic prosperity families were equivalent of craft guilds (713).
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