The correct answer is:
C. Anti-Federalists supported empowering the states at the expense of the federal government as they believed the states could better protect the rights of the people.
This reflects the beliefs of Anti-Federalists who were concerned about the potential for federal overreach and believed that state governments were closer to the people and better suited to protect their rights. The Tenth Amendment emphasizes that powers not explicitly granted to the federal government are reserved for the states, which aligns with the Anti-Federalists' perspective on state sovereignty.