Why did US land speculators benefit from the removal of Article X from the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo?

Article X would have protected land grants made under Mexican rule, but it was removed from the treaty. Without that protection, ownership claims became harder to defend, and US land speculators could use the uncertainty to acquire land cheaply. So the correct choice is “They used unclear ownership rules to take control of land cheaply.”

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.