The quatrocentões and their ancestors were greatly responsible for the expansion of the Portuguese Empire in South America, at the expense of the Spanish Empire. Also the Brazilian Gold Rush, which had strong repercussion in Europe and in the Americas, the founding of many towns in Minas Gerais such as Ouro Preto, and also the first phase of the Industrialization of São Paulo during the Empire of Brazil. But also for the maintenance of slavery in Brazil, making Brazil the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery in 1888. In the 19th and early 20th century they formed a large portion of the plantation aristocrats and titled nobility of the Empire of Brazil. They became decadent after the financial crisis of 1929, the rise of new wealthy immigrants and the Revolution of 1932, that they lost against Getulio Vargas, ironically a descendant of these early settlers of São Paulo. Quatrocentões are a polarizing group in Brazilian history, praised by some and blamed by others for their actions during the course of Brazilian history.