Jim,
Weren't those unarmed men members of a lynch Mob that terrorized and murdered "uppidy" freed black men? There are times to fight for what is right, without the civil war defeat the south wasn't giving up slavery and the north wouldn't have made them give it up were it not to keep Great Britian from entering the war on the south's side.
I would normally come down on the side of passive resistance , but, passive resistance meant status quo at the time and the status quo was a nightmare. I am glad John Brown walked on to the stage of history.