It may sound harsh, but the Indians always chose to fight first. They were the ones who thought kindness was a weakness. So, when the fight began, we knocked the piss out of them then extended a helping hand.
OTOH, the Spanish and Portugese colonization methods had a place, even if of exploited and inferior status, for natives in their society.
The British method of colonization required pushing the natives off their land so they could exploit nature without their interference.
It is a fact that in many (not all) Latin American socities the descendants of the natives are more thoroughly integrated into society than are the descendants of North American natives.
On the other other hand, there is no “Indian problem” in Argentina. During the 19th century, they just killed them all.
Many like to overintellectiualize the voyage of Columbus and cast him as a bad guy but he was just a man of his time trying to find a new sailing route and make a profit and a name for himself. He was willing to work harder and more ready to place his life and future at risk than were others. That is why he was the first European of his time to make the voyage and report his discoveries.
Columbus certainly didn’t start out with the intent of finding unkown indigenous people so the rulers of European nations could exploit them but he wouldn’t have been surprised to see it happen. If he had not made the voyage someone else would have and history would be little different.
Prevailing standards of conduct were much different then and it is meaningless to judge conduct 500 years ago by the standards of today. Rulers and adventurers of that time would laugh at the namby-pamby sensibilities of today’s leaders and the profitable Victimology Industry that has been created in the west.
At least the exploiters of the Columbian era were honest about motivation - they wanted to profit from their actions and would have been amused at any suggestion they should not.
The leaders of the modern western Victimology Industry posture as altruist protectors of others. They claim to be motivated by selfless concern for others when in fact much of their motivation is the same as it has been through the ages; they want recognition, advancement, attainment of personal goals and profit in one form or another.