Gilbert (Tennessee)

Gilbert was an American man enslaved by Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States. One of the affiants in the case of his death described him as a man of "strong sense and determined character." The man who killed him described him as "a very strong, stout man, possessed of a most violent and ungovernable temper and disposition, among many other faults."
Gilbert escaped from Jackson's plantations at least four times. In 1804, John Coffee placed a runaway slave ad seeking his return in the newspaper:
In 1827, after Gilbert escaped once again, he was recaptured. He was to be whipped publicly as a result but was killed while resisting. Jackson fired Walton after Gilbert's death, and attempted to have him prosecuted. However, two Tennessee grand juries declined to indict Walton for either murder or manslaughter.
Gilbert's death was a political issue in the 1828 United States presidential election; Jackson's political opponents cited it as evidence of his cruelty.