Origins.

In general, American colonial franchise structures were patterned after English precedents. The requirement of landholding, for example, known as the "forty-shilling freehold," was of English origin. The reasoning behind landholding requirements was connected to the complementary British precedents of individual interest and state benefit. That is, the person voting had to have stake in the outcome of the election and had to be one whose personal stake would be dependent on the overall political health of the colony. The 1716 South Carolina voting regulation stated that "It is necessary and reasonable, that none but such persons who have an interest in this Province should be capable to elect . . . members of the commons House of Assembly."

Residency.

Although as cities grew and as time passed landholding requirements lessened, it was generally assumed that apart from landownership one did not have an interest in provincial elections...