What was the reasoning behind restricting suffrage to property owners back in the day?

by secretlyrussian
[deleted]

???? anachronistic question. It is not like there was universal suffrage first as an ideal, then later someone came up with a new idea of restricting it to property owners only. It was more like extending the privileges of nobility to any gentleman who would be independently wealthy enough to invest time in learning about politics and philosophy etc. etc.