“I think he was both a terrorist and a freedom fighter. I think he wanted to fight for his cause, but he used inappropriate methods.”

— D.J. Morris, clerk, Grand Junction, Colo.

“I was scared by the mural in the Capitol building at a very young age, so he seems more infamous to me.”

— Justin Montgomery, U.S. Army Reserve, Wellsville

“He was a visionary and a madman. If he did today what he did then, we would consider him a criminal, but at the time, he stood for a cause.”

— Hugh Jassel, Kansas University graduate student, Lawrence

“I admire what he stood for. Without the spark of Harpers Ferry, I don't think Congress would have started the Civil War.”

— Nan Leffingwell, print buyer, Lawrence