The Discovery of America is a large marble sculptural group, created by Luigi Persico, which adorned the front of the east façade of the United States Capitol building from 1844 to 1958, before being put into storage.

[1] In fact, even the placement of The Discovery of America at the Capitol's main entrance staircase was interpreted as contributing to its portrayal of Western civilization's triumph under white male leadership.

Persico's Discovery of America thus introduces the understanding of Columbus in the context of the mid-1800s – the time period in which this statue was created – as a "bold adventurer ... unequalled in grace, and unapproached in majesty, by anything which native or foreign talent affords".

[3] President James Buchanan described the statue as representing "the great discoverer when he first bounded with ecstasy upon the shore, ail his toils past, presenting a hemisphere to the astonished world, with the name America inscribed upon it.

Many works of art created for the Capitol building were even used by congressmen to support political movements west, due to their underlying symbolism related to Manifest Destiny – specifically the inherent Anglo-American supremacy over native Indians.

[2] Furthermore, there is evidence of concrete references made to Persico's statue in arguments intended to prove America's mission inherent in Manifest Destiny ideology and in doing so, justify the annexation of Indian land.

In 1845, for example, Alabama representative James E. Belser defended the decision to seize Texas, contending that "two figures which have so recently been erected on the eastern portico of this Capitol" display "an instructive lesson" regarding the manifestation of liberty and light which would continue to spread as America expanded westward.