President Hoover, at first, thought the Great Depression would fix itself. He believed in the power of businesses and charities to help people. But as the crisis grew worse, he realized he needed to do more. He created a government program called the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to give money to banks and businesses. While this helped some, many people still suffered. Critics argued that Hoover’s actions were too little, too late, and that the government needed to do much more to help the American people. 

Many Americans lost their jobs and homes. With nowhere to go, some people built makeshift shelters out of scrap materials like cardboard, wood, and tin. These shantytowns were often located on the outskirts of cities and were nicknamed "Hoovervilles," after President Herbert Hoover, who was blamed by many for the economic crisis. Living in Hoovervilles was incredibly difficult, as residents faced harsh conditions, poverty, and disease. 

The Mexican Repatriation was a mass deportation of Mexican and Mexican-American citizens from the United States during the Great Depression. During this time period, widespread unemployment led some people to blame Mexican immigrants for taking jobs from American citizens. Many people were deported without due process, and some were even separated from their families. It's estimated that between 400,000 and 2 million people were deported or forcibly sent to Mexico during this period, with a significant portion of them being U.S. citizens. The Mexican Repatriation had a devastating impact on Mexican-American communities. Many families were torn apart, and many people lost their homes, jobs, and livelihoods. 

Franklin D. Roosevelt, often called FDR, served as the 32nd president of the United States during some of the toughest times in American history, including the Great Depression and World War II. He is known for his New Deal programs that helped the country recover from the Great Depression. His wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, was not just the First Lady—she was an activist and a powerful voice for social justice, human rights, and women's rights. Together, FDR and Eleanor helped shape the country’s future during a period of great change.

The New Deal faced criticism from both the left and the right. Some people on the left thought it didn’t do enough to help the poor and wanted more radical changes, while some on the right felt it gave the government too much power and hurt businesses. Critics also argued that the New Deal programs were too expensive and didn’t fix the economy quickly enough.

FDR's court-packing plan was a proposal to change the U.S. Supreme Court. After the Court ruled against some of his New Deal programs, Roosevelt wanted to increase the number of justices from nine to fifteen so he could appoint more judges who supported his ideas. However, many people were worried that this would give the president too much power and upset the balance of power between the branches of government. Although the plan wasn’t approved, it sparked important debates about how much control the president should have over the courts.

During the New Deal, the role of the federal government changed drastically. Before the Great Depression, the government didn’t play as big a role in people's everyday lives, but FDR’s New Deal programs gave the government more responsibility for helping citizens. Many new programs were created to provide jobs, financial support, and social services, which made people more dependent on the government for assistance. This change gave the federal government a larger role in protecting the economy and ensuring the well-being of its citizens, something that hadn’t been a priority before. While some worried that this could make people too reliant on government help, it also set the stage for the government to play a major role in economic stability and public welfare.