Would you care to explain when this period of "compulsory work" occurred in US history?

I was referring specifically to slavery as I believe slavery truly fits the definition. The military draft would probably be another valid example. I'd throw in sharecropping as well since it was often just a sham for extending the era of slavery a bit longer in the US. I do not count indentured servitude in all of it's historical and current mutations. To the extent that it is a private contract willingly entered into by both parties acting in good faith, I have no objections. However, I think it frequently accompanies blackmail, kidnapping, and other thuggery and certainly in those instances becomes a form of slavery and no longer a valid contract.

FoolNBlue (Back from a weekend trip)