The Progress of Civilization is a marble pediment above the entrance to the Senate wing of the United States Capitol building designed by the sculptor Thomas Crawford.

To her right, a white woodsman clears the wilderness inhabited by a Native American boy, father, mother, and child.

In 1851, President Filmore reinstated the position of the Architect of the Capitol and named Thomas U. Walker for the role.

Although he was in control, Meigs had to carefully navigate public opinion, particularly opposition to foreign artists.

Powers refused the offers because of previous disagreements with the government, so Crawford became the primary sculptor for the Capitol extension.

[3] Art historian Kirsten Pai Buick argues against reading the pediment from left to right, suggesting instead that is anti-linear and should be viewed as two halves.

Her right arm holds a laurel and oak wreath which represent civic and military merit while her left hand is outstretched in an appeal to heaven.

Art historian Vivien Green Fryd observes that some white Americans regarded hunting as uncivilized at the time, making the Indian boy the embodiment of primitive behavior.

"[3]: 116  In Crawford's words, the Indian chief is meant to "embody all the despair and profound grief resulting from the conviction of the white man's triumph.

[3] An art journal from the time described the figures with the following statement: "The mother, with prophetic fear, grasps her infant to her bosom, she reclines her cheek on its tiny face as though, in her great love, she would shroud it from the inevitable fate awaiting its race, its name, its very land; a fate sadly imaged forth by a heaped-up grave before her.

Crawford stated that the two boys step forward "to the service of their country" while the schoolteacher instructs the third child.

The publication also includes an excerpt from the London Art Journal which states, "One can fancy the proud delight with which the arrival of this work will be welcomed in America.

[7] The art historian Vivien Green Fryd argues that the pediment sends the message that "Native Americans must be removed and extirpated, if necessary, for the continued progress of the United States.

"[3]: 124  Other sculptures with similar implications, such as Horatio Greenough's The Rescue, were removed from the U.S. Capitol in the twentieth century because of their depiction of the white displacement of Indigenous Americans.

[3] Art historian Kirsten Pai Buick argues for the importance of analyzing the pediment in relation to its physical context on the Senate building.

"[8] Klaus Lubbers argues for seeing the pediment in relation to Indian Peace Medals, which were gifts presented to chiefs during events such as treaty signings to “promote peace and friendship between Indians and their white neighbors.”[1] Symmetry was a typical characteristic of the medals, symbolizing balance between Native Americans and their white counterparts.

However, because the figures on either side are not portrayed equally, the symmetry has the effect of minimizing the significance of governmental and settler mistreatment of Native Americans.