To what was french historian alexis de tocqueville referring to when he wrote that americans did not believe "that democratic principles should undermine the husband's authority and make it doubtful who is in charge of the family"?

He referred to the fact that gender equality was not part of the democratic principles in which the American system of government was based.

Explanation:

The initial years of the US state were not revolutionary in the view of the family as the base of society. Furthermore, religious sentiment was part of the American lifestyle, a Christian view of the family. As such, for the Americans in the first phase of the US democracy, women were not subject to political rights and were expected to be supportive of men.