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GCSE History · key term
Stealing from travellers on roads by using violence or threats.
Used by Edexcel and OCR
Paper 1
Revise: Nature and Changing Definitions of Criminal ActivityHighway robbery threatened a traveller personally while also taking their property. Smuggling avoided taxes owed to the government, so it challenged authority as well as breaking laws governing trade.
Paper 1
Robbing travellers on roads, usually through threats or violence.
Revise: Crimes and criminalsDuring the nineteenth century, highway robbery declined. More banks meant travellers could leave money and valuables safely deposited rather than carry them. Busier roads made unnoticed attacks harder.
For continuity and change, distinguish the underlying crime from its changing opportunities: highway robbery was still theft, but increased travel created more targets.
Keep the chronology clear: highway robbery and smuggling became less common during the nineteenth century even while other crimes increased.
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