Which political thinkers influenced the colonial American idea of an armed citizenry?

The colonial American belief in an armed citizenry was deeply rooted in the political philosophy of several key thinkers who emphasized the importance of arms-bearing to secure the rights of the people in a republic.1

The primary political thinkers who influenced this ideology include:

• Niccolò Machiavelli: The Italian political philosopher whose works contributed to the philosophy of universal arms-bearing as a means of maintaining civic virtue.1
• James Harrington: A 17th-century English republican whose writings, particularly The Commonwealth of Oceana, were highly influential. Harrington argued that the independence of citizens—and thus their liberty—depended on their ownership of land and the use of their own arms.21
• Algernon Sidney: An English republican whose political ideas helped shape the ideology of protest against concentrated power and the necessity of an armed populace.21
• John Trenchard: A British political pamphleteer whose work, often associated with the Commonwealthmen, stressed the importance of civic virtue and the vigilance of citizens against government corruption.21

This philosophy, which viewed every citizen as a soldier and every soldier as a citizen, was central to the colonial American perspective on defense and was later codified in the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.31