What is the relevancy of the text in modern-day society? Also, please provide an idea of a brief activity for the class to complete. What is the Mood/Tone and effectiveness in relation to the purpose of the speech? Please provide two questions of higher-order thinking to ask the class.

Relevance:
Henry's speech is relevant for many reasons, not least of all as a model of highly effective rhetorical techniques in action. His use of concession, refutation, appeals to logic and emotion, parallel structure, repetition, metaphors, allusions, and rhetorical questions make his speech a gold mine for analysis of rhetoric.
"Speech in the Virginia Convention" is also relevant in that it speaks to the condition of oppressed and subjugated people in general. Though exhorting his audience to actual war, Henry's essential message is that when negotiation has been tried for decades, it is useless to continue using the same method to try to reach resolution; rather, new strategies must be applied. While war or other violent types of military intervention should be considered a last resort, they are in some cases justified.
Mood/Tone/Effectiveness in Relation to Speech's Purpose:
Since Henry was the only speaker that day in the House of Burgesses to advocate for a declaration of war against Britain, his diction had to be persuasive and strong. His use of the imagery of chains, massed British troops, and the Royal Navy anchored offshore effectively creates the mood that Britain is virtually enslaving the colonies—and enforcing that servitude with the tangible threat of catastrophic violence. He also paints a very emasculating picture of American patriots lying on their backs if they do nothing to defend themselves. In addition to the imagery, Henry uses words like "tyrannical" to describe Britain and evokes hope through references to God and allies who will join with patriots to expel the British from the colonies. Henry needs to convince the audience that the military option is all that is left, that the time is now, and that there will be divine assistance since the cause is just.
Brief activity for the class to complete:
Divide the class into four groups, and assign a rhetorical technique to each group. Ask the groups to collaborate and identify three uses of the technique, and judge their effectiveness with regard to the point Henry was making. Techniques include the following: rhetorical questions, imagery, metaphors, and allusions. Groups could then report out to the class at large, who can then annotate their copies of the speech with the groups' findings.
Two questions of higher-order thinking:
How would you evaluate the persuasiveness of Henry's speech with regard to appeals to both logic and emotion? Does one outweigh the other?
To what extent do Henry's concessions and refutations address the likely counterarguments in the minds of his listeners?