While Whitney was in Italy there was political, social, and economic instability due to the attempts to unify the country, during which the new secular government was at odds with the papacy. She created the bronze sculpture "Roma" in 1869 to represent the "spiritual destitution" that the citizens experienced due to the political climate, symbolized by the ancient beggar woman. It was shown in Philadelphia, Boston, and London. She visited the United States in 1870 when the city was overtaken by Giuseppe Garibaldi's forces, then returned to Rome for one year before moving back to the United States in 1871 and then exhibited her sculpture of Haitian leader Toussaint Louverture in Boston. She established a studio in Boston in 1872.