 The remnants of such legislation persevered into the 19th century in military contexts.In Portugal, the legal distinction between New and Old Christian was only ended through a legal decree issued by the Marquis of Pombal in 1772, almost three centuries after the implementation of the racist discrimination.The "limpieza de sangre" legislation was common also during the colonization of the Americas, where it led to the racial and feudal separation of peoples and social strata in the colonies.