In Japan, under the sweeping authority of General Douglas MacArthur, all of the following reforms were enacted, except
A. women were granted equality before the law.
B. antitrust laws were abolished.
C. the emperor was to remain a symbolic head of state.
D. land reform assured MacArthur's support from Japan's peasants.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/macarthur/peopleevents/pandeAMEX99.html
To identify which of the reforms were not enacted under General MacArthur's authority in Japan, we need to examine the given options and compare them to the actual historical events.
A. Women were granted equality before the law: During the American occupation of Japan, General MacArthur indeed implemented significant social reforms, which included granting women equality before the law. This means that option A is not the correct answer.
B. Antitrust laws were abolished: It is important to note that under General MacArthur's reforms, antitrust laws were not abolished. On the contrary, he introduced strict antitrust measures to promote fair competition and curtail monopolies. Therefore, option B is a correct answer.
C. The emperor was to remain a symbolic head of state: This statement is accurate. General MacArthur aimed to maintain Emperor Hirohito as a symbolic figurehead rather than removing him from power entirely. Hence, option C is not the correct answer.
D. Land reform assured MacArthur's support from Japan's peasants: This statement is also correct. General MacArthur implemented agricultural land reforms to redistribute land from large landowners to small-scale farmers, which helped garner support from the rural population. Thus, option D is not the correct answer.
Consequently, the correct answer is option B: antitrust laws were abolished.