There are no firm extimates on the numbers of slaves who ran away, though the number 100,000 is tossed around quite a bit. Perhpas the new Underground Railroad Freedom Center will produce some new, and accurate, scholarship on the question.

I believe that the reason the quilt theory is taught in so many schools is because we as a nation still have a difficult time learning about, remembering, talking about our slavery past. What better way to teach children about slavery than by dressing the story up all cute and pretty with quilt patterns and kindly folks who used them to guide runaways to freedom - then we don't have to talk about the realities of slavery, and of running away, etc. It seems to me to be part and parcel of the continued erasure of African American history - by creating mythical stories the truth is eventually lost. No one needs myths as a substitute for history, nor as a way to explain the complications of history. There is plenty of the real stuff out there, waiting to be exposed and taught to everyone

What we should be teaching adults and children is the truth, and specifically, that slaves didn't use quilt patterns - they used their own wits and bodies to fight their way to freedom