Frederick Douglass stood outside the nation because his race excluded him from citizenship. In his antislavery lectures in Ireland and Britain from 1845 to 1847, Douglass acted as an unofficial statesman, urging foreign countries to intervene in American affairs. He used the transatlantic press to structure his critique of American nationality, insisting that ‘[t]houghts expressed on one side of the Atlantic are distinctly heard on the other.’ As the founding editor of The North Star and Frederick Douglass’ Paper, Douglass called attention to the ties between the sovereignty of the nation and the preservation of slavery. By focusing on his professional identities as an editor and diplomat instead of his familiar role as an autobiographer, this chapter illuminates Douglass’s investments in international politics and African American freedom.