I hear you Fred, But, Lynching the Lynch mob and dying for a cause that is right and TRUE in every sense of the word is to my mind a desperate times call for desperate measures situation. His actions WERE extremist, but, those dark times required an extremist hero, he fit the bill. I don't think it fair to associate him with more misguided zealots.There is no grey area it is black and white.He was right , his enemies were wrong.
American slavery wasn't mild . It was a rip the muscle from the bone, rape and sell your wife, chop your feet off if you run, where's my bull whip, born and died in chains evil attrocity. Nations would war over such human rights voilations now, in the absence of an outraged proactive international community John took on the system.
If the story were Myth or Sci-fi, no one would question the hero's actions or motivation and you wouldn't have to change a single detail. Along those lines I always thought it would be cool if Clint Eastwood made a movie about him.
Glad to be living in brighter days, DJH