Is Christopher Columbus and the Spanish Conquest of the Americas Defensible?

Only by judging Columbus and the rest of the Conquest by the moral standards of their era. The Conquest -and the rest of colonization of North America, Africa, and the Far East - was carried out under the laws and moral code of a very different era. The contemporary religions justified the actions of the colonizers and actively supported bringing the 'word of God' to the 'heathens'. Europeans thought they were bringing 'Civilization' to this backwards world and its people. European technology was far superior to native technology - as one of my friends like to say "They didn't even have the wheel - the WHEEL!" The idea that Might Makes Right was acceptable, as was the superiority of blood (Kings rule nobles, nobles rule peasants, etc). You can say that their actions were deplorable by modern standards, and that some went far beyond their own acceptable standards, but on the whole Colonization wasn't rooted in evil.