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This says this is an "excerpt" -- an excerpt from where? (Did I miss the original source of this being mentioned somewhere? And if I didn't miss it, why isn't it referenced? Is it common to post something as an "excerpt" and not give credit to the author or publisher?)

From this "excerpt" In Joseph Smith's day some of the most prominent Americans were disgusted with the creeds of Christendom.

So what? (Name me any period of time since Jesus came where there weren't "some prominent" people who were disgusted with the faith that followed Him...This wasn't unique to the early 1800s)

From the excerpt: It is also true that in Colonial America only about 5 percent of the population belonged to any church and that those who did come to America for religious reasons did not come here initially to seek freedom of religion except for themselves. This is certainly an indictment against religion in Joseph Smith's day.

This is bad historical writing. "The colonial period" was a rather broad period -- early 1600s into the latter 1700s...and if you broaden it to include "Joseph Smith's day" -- as this author does -- now you're talking about a 200-year stretch (as Smith was born, I believe 1806 and lived to 1844). In this 200-year stretch, you've got the revival periods like 1727, 1790s-1800, 1830s...so to cast all these ebb-and-flow periods in one lump sum of "5 % of the population belonging to any church" is just outrageous!

Yes, many estimates of latter 1700s (before 1790s) claimed only 6-8% of the population were church members. Ian Barnes and Charles Royster, in their book, The Historical Atlas of the American Revolution (2000), said it was more like 10-30% by 1775: “By 1775, some 70 to 90 percent of European colonists were unattached to any church.” (p. 28)

The authors (p. 29) go so far as to provide a pie chart by denomination within each of the first 14 colonies the % of church membership among the Anglicans, Baptists, RC, Quakers, Congregationalists, Dutch Reformed, Presbyterians, Mennonites, German churches. Needless to say, these pie charts show slim church membership.

But again, Resty, your unknown author cited here cast a broad net, claiming, ...in Colonial America only about 5 percent of the population belonged to any church

Barnes & Royster pointed out how church membership was at times quite high -- for example, during the Jonathan Edwards' years:

The construction of churches and congregations existed to help early settlers survive and to provide a focus for family life in the community. Between 1630 and 1660, New England church membership was between 70 and 80 percent of the adult population.” (p. 28 of Historical Atlas) [Higher % when you factor in kids]

Furthermore, Resty, your "author" then tries to extrapolate the low membership % during colonial times without...
(a) ...bothering to explain some reasons why church membership was low/lower...
(b) ...mentioning these lower points of membership were not occurring when Smith came out with his Book of Mormon (1830).

("A" above re: some reasons behind the low % of adult population as members included lack of churches in the frontier regions...along with the reality that black slaves -- prominent in the Southern colonies -- weren't allowed to join churches.)

("B" above re: 1830...Finney had his revival going in full bloom in 1830-1831...The Methodist Episcopal revival was in high gear in the 1830s...they doubled their numbers by 1840...Some Baptists claimed their revival years as being 1810-1850...with a home mission being a key 1832 spark...and camp meetings began in 1800 Kentucky and then spread to Tennessee...some revival authors (like James Orr) tie this to a 1792 "awakening" which expanded greatly in 1798).

Resty's "author": This is certainly an indictment against religion in Joseph Smith's day.

No, actually this presentation is an "indictment" vs. the historical discernment of the "author" and against the FREEPER who posted it!!! My bottom-line point I've made above is that this "author" deliberately ignores all these spiritual awakenings taking place during both the colonial period (1630 to 1660)...1727...1790s into early 1800s...as well as during the Smith period (1815-1831 in Smith's home of Western New York-- called the "burned over" district because so many revivalists had come through during that time)...

And that's what makes these "half-truths" an all-out lie, Resty...and you should be ashamed of such shoddy historical presentations! The fact is, though the author tries to state this, Smith's Book of Mormon didn't break thru during a spiritual "slump" in 1830 Western New York...there'd been 15 years of "revival" going on there! And it was accelerated all the more in 1830 by Finney!)

And the awakenings were evident elsewhere (Kentucky, 1800 and following; Tennessee ensued; New England had its ebb and flows; as did Ohio, etc. and all the many places Wesley had his camp meetings...)