I have accidentally removed my downloads from the dock, and in attempting to recover it, I somehow have removed it from finder as well... how do I get them back?

Choose Home from the Finder's Go menu.

If you see a Downloads folder, drag it to the Dock and the Finder's sidebar. If not, create a new folder with that name.

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and if i don't have a home folder on my finder menu then?

Try Finder/Preferences/Sidebar/Favorites and check the house at the bottom.